Our fabled Spectator Winemaker Lunches are heavily oversubscribed and little wonder. We have the finest producers and merchants clamouring to visit and we’ve never yet managed to knock back less than a bottle a head. Our readers take their studies seriously.
One of the most popular of recent lunches was hosted by Sebastian Rezek, founder of RAKQ, an importer/distributor focused on giving the premium wines of South Africa the recognition in the UK they deserve. The bottles were indeed so fine that they just had to be offered to the wider Speccie readership (along with a very tasty introductory discount of 15 per cent).
Blueberries on the nose – plus wisps of eucalyptus, tobacco, cassis and pepper
We start with the 2021 Paul Wallace Little Flirt Sauvignon Blanc (1) from Elgin, one of South Africa’s most exciting cool-climate wine regions. Paul and his wife Nicky planted 12.5 hectares of vines here 20 years ago, and their son Bobby has since joined them as winemaker. The critics love what they do and this very wine – deliciously fresh, grassy and nervy with hints of ripe pears and restrained tropical fruit – won a double gold medal at the 2022 National Wine Challenge/Top 100 SA Wines. £13.18 down from £15.50.
The 2019 Eikendal Chardonnay (2) is a strikingly fine blend from six different vineyards in Stellenbosch and Elgin. With fermentation in steel and oak (some barrels old and some new; some toasted, some not), the wine is deliciously complex with hints of honey and apple, buttered peach, orange peel, brioche, vanilla and caramel enlivened by fine acidity and a long finish. £19.38 down from £22.80.
The 2018 Stellenbosch Vineyards ‘Credo’ Chenin Blanc (3) is a cracking example of this wonderful grape variety that does so well in South Africa.
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