All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
K Vintners King Coal 2020 is Cabernet Sauvignon with 24% Syrah, the 2020 King Coal Stoneridge Vineyard is firmer, darker and fresh with notes of pencil shavings and a juicy and generous core of spicy dark fruits, with delicate dusty red flowers, delightful brown baking spices and dark berries. Full-bodied, fresh and still tight, this will be released in September of 2023. Buy it, put it directly into your cellar, and forget about it for at least four years. It will go the distance; just be patient. Made from 100% whole-cluster grapes, the wine aged in 60% new French oak for 22 months. Bravo!
Review:
Mainly Cabernet Sauvignon with 24% Syrah, the 2020 King Coal Stoneridge Vineyard is firmer, darker and fresh with notes of pencil shavings and a juicy and generous core of spicy dark fruits, with delicate dusty red flowers, delightful brown baking spices and dark berries. Full-bodied, fresh and still tight, this will be released in September of 2023. Buy it, put it directly into your cellar, and forget about it for at least four years. It will go the distance; just be patient. Made from 100% whole-cluster grapes, the wine aged in 60% new French oak for 22 months. Bravo!
Wine Advocate 98 Points
K Vintners Syrah Royal City us made from 100 percent Syrah.
Royal City for REAL. Perfume of great complexity. Camphor, black cherry and forest floor. All spice building on the palate. Suave and full of finesse with cured olive and wet earth. This is where elegance reigns supreme. – Winemaker, Charles Smith
Review:
Lots of lavender, cured meats, loamy earthy, and pepper as well as both red and darker fruits emerge from the 2018 Syrah Royal City, easily one of the richest, most powerful Syrahs in the lineup. Full-bodied and concentrated, with loads of meaty, gamey, spicy nuances, this rock star of a Syrah offers loads of pleasure today yet is going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and cruise for another 10-15 years in cold cellars. It's a ripe, sexy, yet again, incredibly savory and meaty Syrah that could come from nowhere else!
-James Suckling 98 Points
Lots of lavender, cured meats, loamy earthy, and pepper as well as both red and darker fruits emerge from the 2018 Syrah Royal City, easily one of the richest, most powerful Syrahs in the lineup. Full-bodied and concentrated, with loads of meaty, gamey, spicy nuances, this rock star of a Syrah offers loads of pleasure today yet is going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and cruise for another 10-15 years in cold cellars. It's a ripe, sexy, yet again, incredibly savory and meaty Syrah that could come from nowhere else!
-Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points
K Vintners The Beautiful Syrah 2018 is made from 97% Syrah, 3% Viognier.
A multi-layered beauty; perfumed, lovely. Super dark rose. Broken, unfiltered cigarette, Amaro. Densely colored with a shimmering red rim. Giving, yet just an inch at a time. One to ponder. One to enjoy.
Review:
Such a pretty nose of cooking spice, red and black cherries and dried garden herbs. Full-bodied with excellent depth and nuance. Silky tannins. Whole black pepper and spiced cherry make the palate hum. There is a deft hand at work here. There is so much exciting energy to the ripe, balanced fruit. This is showing well now, but can age easily for the next 10-15 years. Drink or hold.
- James Suckling 97 Points
K Vitners The Hidden Syrah is made from 100 percent Syrah.
It is not a secret the magnitude this wine can reach. In this vintage, femininity reigns supreme. Perfume, flowers, cassis. All anchored to sense of place with stone, ancient soil and chanterelles that make this wine a wine of the earth.
Review:
Kirsch, ripe black cherries, roasted herbs, violets, and orange blossom notes all emerge from the 2018 The Hidden Syrah Northridge Vineyard, which is all Syrah brought up in neutral oak. Rich, full-bodied, and beautifully polished, it packs loads of fruit yet stays light on its feet, with no sensation of heaviness. As with all of these Syrahs from Smith, it's going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age.
-Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points
The Kasteelberg range of wines, celebrates the discovery of Riebeek and the Kasteelberg mountains in 1661. Kasteelberg stands sentinel over the fertile valley below. From the slopes of the mountains, hand-selected grapes are expertly crafted with care to produce rare and expressive wines. The Kasteelberg range truly is the pinnacle of our Winemaker's art.
Often referred to as Shiraz Country, the Riebeek Valley is renowned for exceptional Shiraz wines.
The Kasteelberg Shiraz is a lively rich wine, full bodied with a subdued smokiness on the nose and a pallet of ripe fruit and interesting spice.
Well-balanced and smooth, the aftertaste lingers with the exciting flavors of Christmas pudding.
Serve at room temperature. The perfect companion to barbequed lamb, fillet medallions and game. Lovely with Springbok stuffed with bacon, garlic and rosemary and a great match to a cheese and preserve platter.
Review:
"I'd expect to prefer the 2017 Shiraz to the 2018 bottling, but it's actually the reverse. Maybe Alecia Boshoff has just got more experience with the fruit from this Kasteelberg site. Sweet and spicy, with enticing incense and violet aromas, fine tannins, succulent red berry fruit and deftly integrated one-third new oak. 2021-26"
- Tim Atkin (South Africa 2020 Report), 92 pts
Johann Michel Cornas Cuvee Jana is 100% Syrah.
Black raspberry aromas, licorice, sizzled bacon and smoke. Elegant and pure with depth and well-integrated tannins.
Jana is the name of Johann and Emmanuelle's daughter.
Manual harvest, selection of the grapes from the "Chaillot" parcel, full clusters, fermentation in tanks for 3 weeks, daily remontage and pigeage. Malolactic fermentation in oak barrels and aging on the lees for 12-18 months in barrels (new old barrels) The average age of the vines is 11 years. Yield: 25 hl/ha
Review:
"Dark purple. Highly perfumed, oak-spiced black and blue fruits, incense, vanilla and potpourri on the hugely perfumed nose, along with hints of licorice, smoked meat and mocha. Stains the palate with concentrated, spice-laced blueberry, cassis, cherry-vanilla and espresso flavors that turn sweeter as the wine opens up. Broad, polished tannins add shape to a strikingly long, smoke- and spice-driven finish that strongly echoes the floral and blue fruit notes. - Josh Raynolds"
- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (December 2022), 97 pts
The 2022 Jayson Chardonnay achieves a beautiful equilibrium of richness, buoyancy, and intricacy. Aromas of sweet Meyer lemon, crushedalmond, and grilled pineapple lead to a concentrated palate of bright lemon curd and orange blossom honey underscored by fresh pear andtoasted nuttiness with a hint of baking spice. The texture is classic Pahlmeyer, plush and detailed, while the presence of bright Carneros fruitbrings energy and litheness. Flavors are lifted and extended on a spine of bright acidity, the lingering finish striking an ideal balance betweenopulence and mouthwatering freshness.
Review:
This generous, buttery and spicy wine is sourced from several parts of Napa Valley and brings gorgeous richness to the nose, palate and finish. Elements of brown butter, marzipan, toasted almonds and poached pears flood the flavors, with vanilla bean and a touch of sweet coconut. Barrel fermented in 36% new French oak, it’s full-bodied and nicely viscous in texture.
James Suckling 93 Points