2020 MR de Compostella

Traipsing up the steep Karibib Vineyard, Bruwer Raats casually mentions how he started out with virtually nothing. He’s one of several winemakers like Ian Naudé and Eben Sadie that launched his career with so little and have achieved so much. Together with his wingman, his cousin Gavin Bruwer Slabbert, Raats has forged close bonds with owners of some of Stellenbosch’s most coveted vineyards, building a concise but quite brilliant portfolio with Cabernet Franc at its heart. Once a stalwart of old school South African winemaking, producers like Raats chipped away over the years and introduced a modern style of viticulture and vinification that emphasises terroir, varietal and elegance. And there is more to come, as I surveyed a newly-planted parcel of Cabernet Franc whose fledglings will bear fruit to augment his portfolio once they reach adulthood. Returning to his homestead just a five-minute drive back down the valley and tasting through his 2021s and 2020s, I had to stop and marvel at the precision and complexity Bruwer and Gavin Raats are able to instill across their portfolio, both under Raats Family Wines and the more experimental Bruwer Vintners Vine Exploration Co (rebranded from “B Vintners”). Bruwer and Gavin just have that “touch”. The Cabernet Francs are quite sensational this year, each with their own personalities, the highlight a toss-up between the thrilling Family Cabernet Franc and the Eden High Density Single Vineyard from vines planted 1.00m by 1.20m on individual stakes (though you will have to beg for the 500 to 600 bottles produced). The portfolio sees a return of the MR de Compostella that was declassified in 2019 because of the March rain, the first time that difficult decision was made since 2010 for the same reason. It is brilliant and reinstates why it is revered as one of the Cape’s most eminent wines.