Description
A Blend of 82% Cinsault, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc from Darling in the Western Cape. Picked in small crates and left overnight in cold room to bring temperature down to roughly 10 degrees Celsius. The challenge is to interpret the current vintage conditions in order to balance whole bunch, destemming of grapes and adding stalks (tannins). A combination of whole bunch destemmed grapes and stalks go into a stainless steel tank and left until natural fermentation starts. One to two soft pump overs per day and left for roughly 2 weeks, pressed and wine transferred into older 225L French oak barrels (minimum oxidation during the process). The 2020 season showed promise early but windy conditions during the sensitive berry growth stages, resulted in smaller berries. A bigger crop than 2019 commenced two weeks earlier than usual. Rainfall was mostly below average. Summer temperatures were moderate during the ripening period, with the absence of characteristic heat peaks. Early cultivars showed exceptional acidity, and the colour and tannin analyses in the red wines promise full wines with concentrated flavour profiles. Barrel aging commences for 12 – 15 months
This elegant wine displays a weightless concentration of the red and black berry fruits that are embroidered with classical fragrant notes of red cherry, rose petals, violets and marzipan underpinned by a mouthwatering acidity.
Reviews
JancisRobinson.com 17.5
"80% Cinsault, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc. Green bean, green pepper, redcurrants and crackling with energy. Ultra-fine tannins that feel like the light from a red stained-glass window. A slender wine, graceful, gliding on sour-cherry strings. Made in Naude’s sparse style. You can taste that it’s Cinsault leading the blend, with the Cabs just gently framing it." [Tamlyn Currin, 30/06/2023]
Anticipated maturity: 2023-2030
Neal Martin 93
"The 2020 Red Blend Oupa Willem is Naude’s Cinsault/Cabernet blend inspired by wines from the Sixties. It comes from the same block as Werfdans and is matured in used oak barrel. "I don’t have the money for new oak," Naude tells me! With raspberry, briar and light tertiary scents on the nose, this gradually unfolds in the glass, very pure and elegant. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, fine acidity, and gentle grip; the 15% Cabernet component barely noticeable but lending more backbone to the Cinsault towards the finish. Fine symmetry here, fresh, yet you’re drinking the first chapter of a 15 to 20-year wine." [Neal Martin, 24/08/2022]
Producer Profile
Ian Naudé’s wines are unlike anything else.
His range of wines are made up of esoteric pockets of old and new vines that tell a story about South African heritage. He did so fearlessly, believing that South African wine, if made honestly, and without compromise can come to rival the finest wines in the world. And slowly the international wine cognoscenti have started believing it too, as demonstrated by their rave reviews year-on-year.
