2014 Mvemve Raats, MR de Compostella, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Critics reviews
Neal Martin - 28/04/2017
James Molesworth - Wine Spectator, 31st Dec 2016
About this WINE
Raats Family Wines
Bruwer Raat started Raats Family Wines in 2000. Having carved out a reputation as a New World leader in the production of Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc, Bruwer crafts soil-specific wines that embody the unique characteristics of the Stellenbosch wine region.
Amongst the Raats portfolio, Bruwer makes a wine called Mvemve Raats (MR) de Compostella, a collaborative venture with his friend Mzokhona Mvemve that began with the 2004 vintage. Just one wine is made each year: a Bordeaux blend.
The composition changes, because they both taste through barrels and only those that score 90-plus when sampled blind make it to the final blend.
Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch is South Africa’s best-known wine region, producing a wide variety of wines from leading estates, even though it accounts for less than 20 per cent of the country’s total production. Designated wards within the wine region are Jonkershoek Valley, Simonsberg-Stellenbosch, Bottelary, Devon Valley and Papegaaiberg.
At 17,500 hectares, Stellenbosch remains the Cape's most famous and important fine wine district, thanks to its proximity to Cape Town, to the cooling influences of False Bay, its mountainous (ie Helderberg, Simonsberg), granitic topography and its centres of learning such as Elsenburg Agricultural College.
It's notable for the refinement of its Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, especially from the likes of Glenelly Estate, Keermont Vineyards Oldenburg Vineyards, Raats Family and Anwilka
Cabernet Franc
Cabernet Franc is widely planted in Bordeaux and is the most important black grape grown in the Loire. In the Médoc, it may constitute up to 15% of a typical vineyard – it is always blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and is used to add bouquet and complexity to the wines. It is more widely used in St Émilion, where it adapts well to the cooler and moister clay soils.
Cabernet Franc thrives in the Loire, where the cooler growing conditions serve to accentuate the grape’s herbaceous, grassy, lead pencil aromas. The best wines come from the tuffeaux limestone slopes of Chinon and Bourgueil.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Bruwer Raat crafts soil-specific wines that embody the unique characteristics of the Stellenbosch wine region. Mvemve Raats (MR) de Compostella is a collaborative venture with his friend Mzokhona Mvemve. Just one wine is made each year: a Bordeaux blend. The composition changes, because they both taste through the barrels and only those that score 90-plus when sampled blind make it to the final blend.
Cabernet Franc may lead the pack in this Bordeaux blend but its, sometimes rather lean, personality is brilliantly balanced by the weight of its companions. It brings tremendous grace to this otherwise powerful blend; adding red fruit and freshness to the dark kernel of brooding fruit. An outstanding example of what can be achieved when Old World reserve meets New World flair; ripe fruit allied to a bright disposition and silky, refined structure.
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