Le Riche Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
- 98
- $90/ ZAR 1050
- Drink by: 2026-2044+
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Super-expressive aromatics of cassis, radiant plums and black cherries, highlighted in brushstrokes of violets, dark roses and an alpine, cedar freshness. The wine paints the room. 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the winery’s Reserve bottling – and a superlative vintage for cab it was. The mild season ensured slow and extended ripening, concentrating flavours and netting in clean acidities. Le Riche has long collaborated with a network of growers across the wards of Stellenbosch, and builds in complexity from the various characteristics of the parcels with separate, micro-vinification in the cellar. This assemblage comprises Helderberg (67%), Simonsberg (22%) and Jonkershoek Valley (11%). Three years in total elevage, including 24 months in French oak (70% new). The wood soaks in the lush fruit, adding bones of satin to the firm, ageworthy structure, paved with gravelly, brooding tannins all the way to the long, precisely-dry finish. Serious, but with an opulent nature that makes it approachable in its youth.
Multi-award-winning wine writer and critic Malu Lambert writes for a variety of international and local publications. Malu won the title of the Mont Blanc Emerging Wine Writer of the Year at the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards 2019. She also won the Veritas Young Wine Writer in 2015. Most recently she co-authored Klein Constantia: The Home of Vin de Constance, which was the winner of the ‘Discovering and Presenting Wines’ category of the 2023 OIV. Malu writes for numerous South African titles, and was the wine editor of Food & Home for five years. Internationally, she has also written for Jancis Robinson, Decanter, The Buyer, Falstaff, Club Oenologique, Drinks International, Thirteen Barrels, The Japanese Times, and more. She is also a taster on the Platter's Guide, South Africa’s most definitive and respected guide to wine. Malu is a regular on South Africa's judging panels, including Winemag, Wine-of-the-Month Club and was recently the chairperson for the inaugural Fine Wine Awards by Amex. She also judges for Decanter, IWSC and Concours Mondial du Sauvignon.
