Some wines are difficult to keep quiet about.
City on a Hill, the Swartland project of André Bruyns, is one of them.
A former assistant winemaker to David and Nadia Sadie, André has been building a reputation for intensely site-specific wines that have attracted some serious attention from the world’s leading critics. His wines are made with a clear sense of place, drawing on old vineyards across the Swartland and surrounding regions.
We’ve just added 15 fine wines to the final week of our August Sale, with discounts of up to £48 off a bottle. Alongside City on a Hill, you’ll find names such as Stark-Condé, Kistler, Brewer-Clifton, Schug and Château Coussin.
Starting with these three City on a Hill reds, offering up some extraordinary scores, and equally extraordinary prices.
From £27 until the sale ends at midnight on 31 August.
100% Grenache, Piekenierskloof
96+ Points – Greg Sherwood MW | 18 Points – Jancis Robinson MW | 93 Points – Tim Atkin MW
“100% Grenache Noir from an iron-rich, rocky hillside vineyard which was propagated by massal selection from some of the best old-vine Grenache vineyards in South Africa. Spontaneous fermentation, 100% whole bunch, 500-litre old French oak barrels.
Exceptionally pale red. Not much on the nose bar a smudge of rooibos and iron. One of those wines which defy the flavour-wheel descriptors. Roses and rust – it tastes of rose petals and the deep old-iron tang of blood; it feels like rose petals and the crisp-dust curve-hard scratch of rust. Like licking a hundred-year-old tap in an abandoned garden. It’s red fruit, but it’s not really fruit. Or mineral. It tastes like the sound of a woman singing folk song on a barren, sea-wind swept cliff. Like a keening that lifts the hairs on the back of your neck and sends a cold tine-scrape of old silver down your spine. It has the sweetness of a goodbye kiss, the bitterness of winter thyme, the tannin texture of old fynbos roots clinging to cliff paths. A wine with quiet, graceful, under-the-radar defiance. André Bruyns has a gift for making breath-taking red wines.”- Tamlyn Currin.
100% Tinta Barocca, Swartland
18 Points – Jancis Robinson MW
“Tinta Barroca is spelt Tinta das Baroccas on the label, just FYI. From a bush-vine vineyard planted in 1962 and farmed by Adi Badenhorst. Spontaneous fermentation, 10% whole bunch. Malo and ageing in old 500-litre oak barrels.
Satin-smooth and breathtakingly limpid. More Pinot- than port-like, although the fruit has a dark-red, glossy richness: Amarena cherry, pomegranate, black raspberry. There’s a hint of sweet, violet- and lavender-scented souk spice, of sumac. The tannins have a laminar flow, almost mesmerisingly sensuous and sinuous, split apart only by the flash of acidity, like red sunlight setting fire to water. A breathy whisper of peppery fragrance on the finish. This is utterly extraordinary.” – Tamlyn Currin.
100% Cinsault, Swartland
94+ Points – Greg Sherwood MW | 17.5 Points – Jancis Robinson MW | 93 Points – Tim Atkin MW
“From a vineyard on top of an east-facing slope, west of Malmesbury. Planted in 1998. Spontaneous fermentation, one-third whole bunch. Malo and ageing in old 500-litre barrels.
Aromas of cherry and dried cranberry dance out the glass pulling silk ribbons of tannins and acidity behind them. This is a ruby jewel of a wine in every sense. It glows. It’s radiant with ripeness and yet you would not be able to describe the wine as sweet thanks to the luminous acidity, the fine earth-umami mushroom-and-bark weft of the tannins and a tiny touch of tomato vine. André Bruyns and Donovan Rall are giving Alex Milner a run for his money when it comes to ultra-fine, ultra-exciting Cinsault.” – Tamlyn Currin.
And There’s More to Discover
We’ve added 15 fine wines to the final week of the August Sale, from Stellenbosch to the Swartland, Sonoma Coast to the Columbia Gorge.
Among them: Stark-Condé Cabernet Sauvignon, Château Coussin, Phelps Creek Chardonnay, Schug, Brewer-Clifton, Kistler and more.
With discounts of up to £48 off a bottle, these are some seriously interesting opportunities to buy.
