Medium depth and with a shiny ruby-red glow this has a familiar warm Paarl fruit comfort. Nicely poised, certainly not overworked or in any way a fruit ‘bomb’, this is a stylish and very smooth wine, showing some restraint and balance, and registers a considered 14% alcohol, quite an achievement for its location. Mixed small black and red berry fruited, with careful, quite discreet use of wood and enough Cinsault to control its regional intensity and ripeness, the wine retains a sweet gentle perfume and mellow mouthfeel, sitting as it does between two styles. Less a peppery, briary or spicy version, the Pearl Red offers silky, plump fruit, clean, fresh and lingering plum flavours and from start to finish a caressing, seamless opulence. Already approachable, the wine offers pristine fruit in its younger years and may be best enjoyed within five years.

Ruby-black sheen with a sweet mulberry and wild strawberry nose, the palate is smooth and pliant and the feel is full and lush. A real ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’, there is some warmth in its finish and an enjoyable pastille note to its black fruit core. Its Swartland fruit is ripe and intense yet the wine has structure and elegance and support from fine grained tannins keeps it from being jammy. The fruit shows a purity, this is not a spicy or peppery Syrah led blend, but one of clean plum, blue and blackcurrant flavours and just a touch of briar, developing a violet perfume when left a while. This is a fruity, expressive cordial-like wine, immediately attractive and accessible in youth, stylish, modern and finely crafted.

Fine, supple and very stylish, this young Cabernet driven wine shows dark cherry, cranberry, plum and winter berry compote. Juicy, charmingly fruity and always elegant, the tannins are unobtrusive, like the fine oak structure, lacy and with a fresh light acidity which keeps the wine lively, bright and balanced and prevents the pastille-like smoothness from ever being cloyey. This is an accessible wine in youth, ripe fruit driven and moderately intense, especially at its dark fruit core, memorable for its beautifully smooth silky mouthfeel, quality ripe fruit and sumptuous harmony. The graceful balance of elements and deft handling will ensure evolving distinction. Delightful with white meat, light meals or on its own and drinking well now, but good for several more years.

Pale straw hue and a rather shy nose reveal a medium bodied wine, packed with vibrant fruit notes. There is tangy orange peel, yellow summer fruits, ripe apple and a creamy new-wood feel background. The wine has a brightness, a freshness and is finely crafted, certainly not overworked, and elements are seamless and delicately balanced. There is a complexity here, a myriad of flavours one following another, with sufficient acidity and a hint of wet pebbles to support the Paarl warm climate fruit, all nicely integrated so that although not overly long it certainly has a cerebral effect. This wine successfully walks the balance of seductive and alluring ripe fruit, lees and wood texture with a vitality and zest that gives it character and makes it irresistible. Good for many more years.

Sweetly perfumed with warm buttery tropical fruits on the nose, a weight and richness which follows on to a palate of tangerine, nectarine, mango and summer fruits from a warm climate. Supple and stylish, there is a floral note, some mineral dryness and a burst of butterscotch and caramel, neatly integrated vanilla oak and some lees-like creaminess. An acid lift cuts through the layered depths of soft fruits and keeps the long finish refreshingly crisp and the wine shapely and focussed and leaves the impression of zesty, almost grapefruit and lemon liveliness. This is a bright and intense wine, full of flavour and interest, round, candied and soft yet staying nimble and just tingly enough for several more years.

Glossy straw depth with a heady bread, wax and dried honey nose, this is a serious and top quality Chenin. There is a weight and depth to the palate which lingers remarkably and offers oak vanilla tannins, lees density and warm tropical fruit notes. There are classic Swartland flavours and richness here, peach, almonds, honeycomb, all full frontal and unctuous, a sweet palate, opulence and intensity, almost too soft and requiring all of its acid spine, suggesting brilliance more in youth though it should improve in the short term. This is a wine reflecting careful winemaking decisions and often non-intervention, reflected in its heartwarming tartrate crystals sitting in the bottle. It is lacking nothing, a wine maybe not for the fainthearted, but nevertheless it is layered, persistent and deeply enjoyable.