2015 Rust en Vrede Estate Wine

Comprised of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Shiraz, and 9% Merlot, the 2015 Estate Red opens with a dense dark-fruited nose with oak spices and purple wildflowers. The palate moves to express more dark chocolate and coffee notes with plush open-knit fruit with subtle oak tones, unfolding with a tight mineral grip. With a long clean finish, the wine is full-bodied, showing a complex concentration of fruit, oak and earth. Almost 57,000 bottles were bottled after spending 22 months in French oak, just less than half were first use. This wine is making me daydream of char-grilled ribeye.

Matured in 40% new oak, the 2015 Estate has a clean, fresh, cedar- and mint-scented bouquet of blackberry and wild strawberry fruit. I appreciate the manner in which this gains intensity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin, tarry black fruit, moderate acidity, and some dryness creeping in toward the finish and denying it the precision it deserves.