Description
Tasting the big-name premium producers of the Swartland has become a lucrative business for some of the world’s leading wine critics with no shortage of big scores being bestowed on said wines. However, almost all of them are guilty of merely paying lip service to the great single vineyard Old Vine wines of Jasper Wickens, most notably his Wolwekop Semillon that is harvested from a special vineyard that was planted in 1963 and which offers up, vintage after vintage, incredibly detailed, intense, focused, fresh Semillon whites that rival and often surpass anything produced in South Africa. Jasper is of course on a stellar run being awarded 97/100 for his eye catching 2021 and 96/100 for his deliciously accomplished 2022.
Tasting Notes
JancisRobinson.com 17.5
I have a beeswax candle on my kitchen table. It s a creamy colour, not very tall, and it has an insouciantly elegant slouch, quietly acquired under the soft warmth of its flame. Around the wick, right now, is a slowly curling mint leaf, some cumin seeds, a shiny red-and-yellow tulip petal and a freckling of turmeric. You can tell this is a candle in a busy kitchen, catching the flotsam of the comings and goings of life and family, of food and cooking. This wine is all that. Beeswax, petals, dried herbs, turmeric and cumin. Insouciant slouch. Soft flame. Baked pears. A slice of sourdough slathered in melted butter. A wine that feels like home. A wine that tastes like you could sip it in your pyjamas, bare foot, toes in a puddle of sunshine, hair unbrushed, while you scoop up fat-pink, buttery garlic, lemon-zested prawns on a chunk of toast. Chervil optional. [Tamlyn Currin, 25/03/2026]
Anticipated maturity: 2026-2033
Greg Sherwood 97
This 2023 turns the volume up once again and delivers a most melodious expression of this noble cultivar. Bright crystalline yellow gold in the glass, the aromatics of this new release are incredibly pure, fresh and focused showing notes of lemon grass, waxy lemon peel, white peach and hints of green apple all underpinned by a wonderfully dusty decomposed Granite Paardeberg minerality. With more in common with fresher vintages, there are no oily, lanolin nuances yet but rather fresher lemon and lime white citrus characters, Japanese green tea and a crystalline brightness with pinpoint purity. Seamless and harmonious in the mouth, the sleek lemon citrus intensity is pure and bright, supported by an incredibly well integrated tangy acidity that adds frame and definition to the long, stony, mineral finish. The oak influence is imperceptible and the focus and carry on the finish is mouthwatering and moreish. A fabulous wine that underlines the concentration and fruit power of the 2023 vintage in the Swartland. Drink from 2026 to 2038+. [Greg Sherwood MW, 12/10/2025]
