EXCELSIOR CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2009

  

If there has been a staple in the value priced South African red wine repertoire, it has been this one.  But what makes this one successful, and particularly with the 2007, is, well, it’s certain lack of ‘South-Africaness.’ There aren’t a lot of wines in this price range that can claim that they are all estate grown, but the De Wet family, with the fourth and fifth generation now working the property, own over 200 hectares of vines.  They also raise horses which is probably why there is a horse on the front label (they are apparently one of the top stud farms in that part of the world).  It appears (and we have heard as well) that Nature was kind to the Cape in ‘07.  This surprising value is 90% Cabernet, 8% Shiraz and 2% Petit Verdot.  A darkly colored liquid, it  boasts plenty of black currant and black cherry fruit, notes of smoke and chocolate, and just a few flecks of classic Cape iron minerality to show its origins.  A great buy.