“Hey You, take a photo of me!”
That was the instruction shouted through a car window on the Cape Flats to the photographer whose image would eventually become the label for Jasper Raats’ Skebenga.
In South Africa, Skebenga roughly translates to gangster, rogue or scoundrel, and somehow the name fits the wine perfectly.
Wildly characterful and unmistakably Cape, the Skebenga is Pinotage blended with its two parent grapes, Pinot Noir and Cinsault, a Cape Blend in the truest sense.
The 2023 has just arrived exclusively at Museum Wines and, while still largely undiscovered internationally, has quietly built a following in the Cape amongst those drawn to wines with real personality and sense of place.
There is nothing commercial or internationalised about this wine. Instead, it offers exactly what makes Jasper Raats such a fascinating producer: soulful terroir, freshness, spice, savoury complexity and complete confidence in its own identity.
At £26.99, this feels like one of South Africa’s most original new arrivals in some time.
Available exclusively through Museum Wines.
Cinsault, Pinotage, Pinot Noir, Stellenbosch
Lightly tinted and medium bodied, this wine greets you on the nose with aromatic floral notes and follow through onto the palate with ripe strawberries, cherries, sweet spices and soft tannins on the mid-palate. “One of my favourite South African labels,” – Tim Atkin MW.
