Bordeaux blends at 10: SA holds its own
By Christian Eedes, 9 October 2025
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Earlier this year, a tasting titled “South Africa’s New Wave Tasting – Ten Years On” was held in London, where various wine professionals revisited the wines of the so-called young guns who caused such a stir a decade ago. The results were widely considered underwhelming, with the group average for even the best-performing wines typically falling below 95 points (see here). This prompted the question: would South Africa’s more established, Bordeaux-style labels stand up better a decade after vintage?
To explore this, private collector and Winemag.co.za reader Ryan Coetzee convened a comparative tasting featuring 12 prominent South African examples alongside four classed growths from Bordeaux. The wines were arranged into four flights of four, each flight comprising three South African wines and one Bordeaux, tasted blind with labels concealed.
The pouring order was as follows:
Flight One
1. Stark Condé Oude Nektar 2015
2. Keets First Verse 2015
3. Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2015
4. Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion 2015
Flight Two
1. Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse 2015
2. Thelema Rabelais 2015
3. Meerlust Rubicon 2015
4. Warwick Trilogy 2015
Flight Three
1. MR Compostella 2015
2. Tokara Director’s Reserve 2015
3. Chateau Leoville Las Cases 2015
4. Glenelly Lady May 2015
Flight Four
1. Ernie Els Signature 2015
2. Chateau Pontet Canet 2015 2015
3. Boekenhoutskloof The Journeyman 2015
4. Vilafonté Series C 2015
Here’s how I rated the wines:
97
Thelema Rabelais 2015
96
Ernie Els Signature 2015
MR Compostella 2015
95
Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2015
Stark Condé Oude Nektar 2015
94
Boekenhoutskloof The Journeyman 2015
Chateau Leoville Las Cases 2015
93
Glenelly Lady May 2015
Keets First Verse 2015
92
Meerlust Rubicon 2015
91
Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse 2015
Tokara Director’s Reserve 2015
Vriesenhof Kallista 2015 (included as a replacement for Warwick and tasted sighted)
90
Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion 2015
89
Vilafonté Series C 2015
BRETTANOMYCES
Chateau Pontet Canet 2015 2015
CORKED
Warwick Trilogy 2015
The Rabelais 2015 from Simonsberg property Thelema was simply sensational. A blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot, it spent 20 months in 225-litre barrels, all new. The nose offered red and black berries, floral perfume, meat stock and earth, while the palate impressed with remarkable fruit depth, fresh acidity and fine, tightly woven tannins.
Whatever the circumstances, this vintage of Kanonkop shows well – I rated it 94 tasting sighted on release in July 2018, 96 in a blind tasting in January 2019, 95 in the blind tasting for Winemag.co.za’s 10-Year-Old Report earlier this year and again 95 now.
If only consistency of tasting was always so easy to achieve. Tokara Director’s Reserve 2015, awarded 95 by the panel in the 10-Year-Old Report, appeared broader and more mellow this time – a reminder that scores are merely snapshots in time.
To my mind, Ernie Els Signature, MR de Compostella and all the Cabernet and Cabernet-based wines from Stark-Condé remain among the finest in the country, a view pleasingly reinforced by this tasting.
The Bordeaux wines, however, were more perplexing. La Mission Haut-Brion showed as overly ripe and soft – unsurprising, given its declared alcohol of 15%. Once the identities were revealed, I felt I had slightly underscored Pichon Longueville Comtesse 2015, having mistaken its elegance and restraint for modesty. Leoville Las Cases proved a slow-burner, taking ages to open up, while spoilage yeast Brettanomyces rendered the Pontet-Canet undrinkable for me.
The Warwick Trilogy was unfortunately badly corked, but our host had a bottle of Vriesenhof Kallista on hand, which we tasted sighted. It showed the low-level Brett that used to slightly blemish the wines of this cellar, yet was far from unfit for consumption.
As for Vilafonté Series C, it appeared sweet and a little hot. Current winemaker Chris de Vries only joined the operation in late 2016, and I’ve long felt that it’s under his stewardship that this wine has truly come into its own.
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Gareth | 10 October 2025
Hi Christian, I know you are a big fan of the Lady May 2025 and were one of the first to call it’s quality. Is it now getting a little tired?
Christian Eedes | 10 October 2025
Hi Gareth, I’m pleased to report that far from being over-developed, it remains remarkably youthful—perhaps just in an awkward phase. Full-bodied yet fresh, with firm tannins. Despite its dark fruit, there’s a distinct herbal note that doesn’t quite integrate for now. Best revisited from 2028 onwards, I would think.
GillesP | 10 October 2025
I would bet high that if we have a panel of 10 judges from 10 different wine producing countries, we would have completely different results. One can’t avoid building a palate for the wine they are accustomed with.
James | 10 October 2025
Ah Gilles, you never cease to stop putting French wine on a pedestal. Still can’t believe SA can compete with Bordeaux? The irony is despite your dig at Christian, your comments on this platform suggest you can’t see past the old world.
GillesP | 10 October 2025
Hi James. You missed the point of my comment. I grew up with a palate for French wines, no denial here, and I don’t find the elegance and finesse of some of the Bordeaux in the south african equivalent. It is my palate talking for myself and I totally understand that South Africans have a different perspective on their palate.
Jan Carlsson | 11 October 2025
No big surprise for me that the new wawe wines don’t have developed so well. That is been my verdict and experience since several years. 10 years for a high quality Bordeaux Blend is a short time, I guess most of them were still young our only slightly developed.
I would like to see a similar tasting of the best Pinotages after 10 years since that a variety that gain/develop often more than other grapes after 8+ years. Very well demonstrated at a tasting with Abrie at Kanonkop 2022.
Kwispedoor | 11 October 2025
I agree about Pinotage, Jan. Although 10 years is still very young for the better Pinotages. The best ones can be in a lull after one decade, but truly wonderful after many decades.
The thing is that they don’t make Bordeaux reds like they used to…The problem with these particular ones, is that more time is not likely to make a 15% ABV wine all that much better, if at all. And the bretty one will only get worse. I’m also a fan of classic Bordeaux, though.
keith | 11 October 2025
Be interesting to repeat this is another ten years and I suspect one or two of the Bordeaux may obtain a higher rating . Great to see however how well the SA wines were rated. Were another tasters scores similar to yours Christian ?
Cheers Keith
Christian Eedes | 13 October 2025
Hi Keith, James Pietersen of Wine Cellar was there and had Kanonkop, MR de Compostella out in front with Thelema Rabelais not far behind.
Fergus Stewart | 11 October 2025
Christian, I think this comment is very misleading – “The results were widely considered underwhelming, with the group average for even the best-performing wines typically falling below 95 points.” The overwhelming verdict of the group (of which I was part) was a positive impression of age-worthy wines. There were some clear failures with closures and a handful of wines that disappointed – that’s to be expected given c.80 wines in the tasting. The obsesssion from Winemag about the average scores, which for the record where never meant to be shared as widely as they have been, takes away from what was a superb event and proof the vast majority of these wines are suitable for long term ageing. You only have to read Neal, Jancis and Tim’s remarks in various publications since to see that this was a hugely positive experience.
Christian Eedes | 11 October 2025
Hi Fergus, thanks for weighing in — fair points all round. I don’t think anyone disputes that the recent London 2015 tasting was a well-organised and worthwhile exercise.
That said, the initial reaction to Greg Sherwood’s article on this site from our readers was that the results seemed “underwhelming,” and it’s that perception, rather than the later reframing, that I’m interested in and obliged to take account of. South Africans are naturally sensitive to how their wines are received abroad, and when the tone shifts so noticeably after the fact, it invites discussion.
And if a few prominent London voices are paying this much attention to what Winemag writes, we’re probably doing something right.
Greg Sherwood | 22 October 2025
The 10 years on tasting in London was indeed a worthy and valuable event. The fact that so many people tried to throw me under the bus for merely reporting the group results pangs of todays modern cancel culture. I reported widely in my first and second article on the wines, the successes and the failures… and it seems the tasters were more sensitive to the results than the actual producers who seemed quite content with the results on the whole. Playing the whole “results that should not have been reported” card is a big red herring in my book. If you want my own personal opinions… go read my second article and my own personal scores. I think they are very fair representations of the quality of the wines tasted.
GillesP | 22 October 2025
Well Hraig there is a certain audience here who strongly believe that SA wines are maybe the best in the World and can’t be challenged or criticised or underscored. You and I know that International Market Price is a proof of the opposite rightly or wrongly but still is a fact. Maybe one day…..
Jamie Johnson | 23 October 2025
Thank you Greg for your report. If the tasters are confident in their assessment and have nothing to hide why would they be concerned about the scores being shared? What am I missing? Surely, only by fairly benchmarking is how to improve quality over time and make the necessary adjustments. It’s one of the things I respect most about the South African producers who I source wines from is their openness and willingness to make changes when needed e.g. Eben Sadie with his decade assessments.
Wessel Strydom | 20 October 2025
Had the privilege of enjoying a 2019 Thelema Rabelais this past weekend and must confess that I was speechless. An absolutely lovely wine!!!