Raats Family Wines, MR De Compostella, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2018

Producer Profile

Bruwer Raats is a gentle giant of a man and his reputation is starting to match his stature. His mastery of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc is bringing him praise from around the world as "the most exciting and forward thinking winemaker" in Stellenbosch. He talks of quality by design rather than by default - the current obsession with old vines in South Africa may be admirable but Bruwer believes that better results can be obtained from the right variety planted in the right place. Planting and cultivating the right vines using this considered approach, often using high density planting, is beginning to yield the results that suggest he is on the right track. As an endorsement of his ascendency, Raats was named as Platter's South African Winery of the Year 2019 with no less than eight 5 star wines!

Viticulture

The grapes come from Stellenbosch and are grown only on decomposed dolomite granite soils. This lends itself to great acidity, freshness and an extended mineral finish.

Winemaking

The aim with this wine was to take each of the five components and make a varietal wine in it’s own right. The wines were then tasted blind after one year in barrel. The wines that scored less than 90 points were not considered for the final blend. The percentage components of the blend were determined by the scores achieved in the blind tasting. The resultant cuvée is called De Compostella (‘The Compilation of Stars’). Each variety spent 12 months in barrel as a single variety wine before the wines were blended. Thereafter the blended wine was matured for another 12 months, giving a total of 24 months in barrel, a third of which was in new French Oak, a further third in 2nd fill and a final third in 3rd fill French oak barrels.

Oak Ageing

24 Months

Tasting Note

Deep, dark intense ruby colour. Blackcurrant and black cherry fruit with hints of violets, cedar and cinnamon. Rich and complex with mineral, black berry fruit and dark chocolate on the finish. Harmoniously composed of sufficient of each of the five Bordeaux varietals to ensure none dominates. This wine shows a consistent, linear flavour profile with a polished finish.

Food Matching

Just exquisite with rib eye or fillet steak!