The Christian Eedes Cabernet Sauvignon Report 2012: Top 10

Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s responsible for some of the great wines of Bordeaux (even if blended with other grapes) and has been taken up in much of the Old and the New Worlds. Is there any better measure of what’s happening at the top end of a nation’s wine industry than what is achieved with this, arguably the most renowned of red wine varieties?

In what will hopefully become an annual project, I decided to compile the Christian Eedes Cabernet Sauvignon Report, this year presented in conjunction with Sanlam Private Investments. This involved putting together a line-up of 60 high-profile wines, either currently available or soon to be released, and then subjecting them to a blind tasting. The top 10 wines were as follows:

FIVE STARS
De Trafford 2009
Cellar price: R230

Delaire Reserve 2009
Not yet released

Graham Beck The Coffeestone 2009
Not yet released

Tokara 2009
Cellar price: R79

FOUR AND A HALF STARS
Cederberg Five Generations 2009
Cellar price: R300

Rickety Bridge Paulina’s Reserve 2009
Cellar price: R190

Stark-Condé 2009
Cellar price: R260

Stark-Condé Three Pines 2009
Cellar price: R130

FOUR STARS
Louis 2008
Cellar price: R230

Kleine Zalze Family Reserve 2007
Not yet released