We’ve some cracking South African wines on offer this week, courtesy of Private Cellar, including yet another bona fide Spectator scoop: the exclusive on the 2023 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. For one week only, The Spectator is the only place where these wines – made in tiny quantities and destined to sell out fast – can be bought. I mean, do we love you or what?
And not only that, thanks to the generosity of Private Cellar’s marketing director, Laura Taylor, the other wines featured boast extremely tasty discounts and, to make the offer even more punter-friendly, all wines are available in six-bottle boxes (with free delivery on 12 bottles).
This is sensuous and elegant, showing what beauty there is in a young Pinot
There’s a lot of shoddy Chenin Blanc in South Africa but the 2020 Rijk’s Touch Chenin Blanc (1) is anything but, being an absolute humdinger, plain and simple. It’s also ridiculously cheap considering its exemplary quality. Crafted from fruit grown in Tulbagh, some 75 miles north-east of Cape Town, by dynamic young winemaker Adriaan Jacobs, this is just so creamy, so peachy and so ripe and with such beautifully judged acidity that all I want to do is gulp it down. Mrs Ray has forbidden me to buy any more wine but I still dare sneak in a case or so of this when her back’s turned. £15 down from £16.45.
The 2019 Aristea Semillon/Sauvignon (2), made by Matt Krone (host of a memorable Spectator Winemaker Lunch) from carefully sourced cool-climate Elgin fruit, is another beauty. Sauvignon-dominant, it’s fresh, lively and enticingly concentrated with a deliciously complex mix of honey, greengage and quince on the finish. £22.45 down from £24.95.
Anthony Hamilton Russell is an old friend of both Private Cellar and The Spectator (he’s hosted at least six Winemaker Lunches and was a shipmate on last year’s notorious Clays, Claret and Cognac Cruise), and Laura invited us both to Private Cellar’s HQ the other day, where the exquisite 2023 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Chardonnay (3) set the tone for an extremely jolly wine-soaked evening.
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