Greg Sherwood MW: The evidence for 2021’s greatness keeps mounting

In my previous Winemag column, I profiled a wonderful selection of 2021 Cabernet Sauvignons presented in London recently by the Cabernet Collective. Bordeaux-style blends are not normally included in these tastings, but on this occasion a special add-on was offered, many of the UK’s most influential trade and media figures in attendance. 

With favourable comparisons already being made with the iconic 2015 and 2017 vintages, the 2021 reds are looking like prime candidates for a place in the cellars of serious collectors.

Whether you’re an aspiring collector already on a stretched budget in these tough economic times or a fortunate experienced collector (with no doubt far too much wine in your cellar already!) the case can still be made for purchasing a case or two of the exceptional 2021 reds – the Cabernet Sauvignons or Cape Bordeaux Blends.

Stellenbosch’s top Cape Bordeaux blends have done the hard yards over the past decades to earn their global reputation through a rare combination of place, pedigree, and textural polish. Cabernet Sauvignon typically leads, supported by Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and sometimes Malbec, the style sitting between Old World restraint and New World generosity, which is why collectors in Europe and the USA increasingly treat these wines as serious alternatives to classified growth Bordeaux, often available at a fraction of the price, quality considered.

What makes Stellenbosch Blends exceptional

The region’s advantage begins with geology and geography. Its soils range from decomposed granite on the Simonsberg and Helderberg slopes to weathered Table Mountain sandstone and ancient Malmesbury shale. These soils drain well and stress the vines in a healthy way, producing small berries with concentrated flavour and fine-grained tannins. Altitude and aspect matter just as much. Vineyards on mountain slopes catch cooling breezes from False Bay, and the afternoon “Cape Doctor” wind slows ripening and preserves the all-important acidity.

Then there is the district’s sheer age. Stellenbosch has been making wine since the 17th century, and its best estates now combine old-vine material, refined cellar practices, and a younger generation of winemakers who increasingly favour precision over extraction. Oak is used with far more restraint, alcohol levels are better managed through viticulture and winemaking, and blending decisions are made for harmony rather than power. The result is wines with a distinctly cassis-laden, graphite-tinged depth, an ever-present savoury thread of tobacco leaf and dried herbs, and importantly, the structure and acidity to age beneficially for several decades even in ‘lighter’ vintages.

Why 2021 stands out

Vintage character is what separates good years from legendary ones, and 2021 shows several hallmarks associated with the Cape’s greatest vintages. Adequate winter rainfall replenished soils after the punishing drought years, and a notably cool, moderate growing season followed. Ripening was slow and late, with harvest arriving a couple of weeks behind recent norms. That extended hang time allowed phenolic ripeness to develop fully while sugars stayed in check.

The effect on the wines is significant. Early impressions at five years from vintage point to bright, vibrant fruit profiles, pronounced fragrant aromatic lift, and fresh natural acidities. The tannins are ripe but fine-grained and tightly interwoven, and the alcohol levels are crucially moderate, lending the wines a very European sensibility.

This profile echoes what made the 2015 and 2017 wines so admired: balance, tension, and a sense of effortless concentration rather than brute force. Where 2015 offered classical poise with muscular power and 2017 delivered concentrated, polished wines with harmony and weightless intensity, 2021 appears to blend both qualities with extra freshness. Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, in particular, seem to have benefited, showing incredible perfume and clarity in the wines.

As always, quality varies site by site as well as by producer, with the finest wines coming from estates with older vines, well-placed mountain parcels with altitude, as well as a steady, experienced guiding hand in the cellar. Collectors should also remember that some critical assessments of a vintage evolve as wines mature in bottle. Still, the early signs at five years on, are strong, and the combination of structure, tension and freshness suggests excellent aging potential, likely 15 to 25+ years for the best examples.

Stellenbosch’s Cape Bordeaux blends already offer an extraordinary mix of terroir, tradition, and value. If the 2021 vintage lives up to its currently assessed promise, it will further cement their standing among the world’s great age-worthy reds, and it will be a vintage worth securing for the cellar before the market catches up, as it has already done so with the 2015s and 2017s.

My Top 2021 Cape Bordeaux Blends from Stellenbosch:

Kanonkop Paul Sauer 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 13.49% Abv.

All the hall mark signs of class are present, minerality, perfumed violets and pink musk, tilled loam and saline black currants. Mouth filling yet supple and seductive, lithe and elegant with the pithy Granitic minerality prominent before a cool, grippy, powerful sinewy finish. True class and certainly one for the cellar! 98/100 GSMW

Glenelly Lady May 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Cool, dark fruited and precise, showing beautiful saline hints, crème de cassis, maritime kelp, violets, dried herbs and potpourri. Seductive and chalky in the mouth, this is a real beauty, harmonious, powerful, intense yet enticing with majestic balance. 97+/100 GSMW

Thelema Rabelais 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

This is a serious wine and predictably it’s starting to tighten up and close down somewhat. The aromatics are Granitic and dusty with hints of graphite, Sichuan pepper and earthy black currant. Despite the tension, the palate is sleek, chiselled and beautifully precise with marble-like tannins, bright tangy acids and a focused, powerfully juicy finish. Undoubtedly one of the blends of the vintage. 97+/100 GSMW

Meerlust Rubicon 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.2% Abv.

A cool earthy expression loaded with black currant, tea leaves, wet tobacco and a coastal maritime kelpy salinity. The tannins are stony and mineral, the palate tense and nervy, perhaps getting ready for a broader shut down for a few years. This is a top league Rubicon that will need to be left in the cellar for a few years. Supremely classy, this will rival the iconic 2015 in time! 96+/100 GSMW

Ernie Els Signature 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 13.5% Abv.

Reveals exotic black fruited aromatics with a cool precision, a pinpoint purity, saline black berry fruits and subtle kelp notes. The palate is incredibly tight knit and polished, showing powdery silky tannins, a nervy acidity and a majestic balance. This has class written all over it. 96/100 GSMW

Rust en Vrede Estate 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.4% Abv.

Not strictly a Bordeaux-style blend but close enough. A deliciously opulent black fruited aromatics show cool creamy crème de cassis hints, black cherry kirsch liquor and subtle saline maritime notes. The texture is accessible and plush, silky, fine grained and luxurious underpinned by stony mineral tannins. A South African classic. 95+/100 GSMW

Cavalli Warlord 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.14% Abv.

Beautiful lift and perfume with exotic notes of black cherry kirsch liquor, salty black currant, hints of liquorice and subtle maritime saline hints. Super plush and sleek, fine grained, fleshy but beautifully elegant. A very well-made classy expression indeed with great appeal. 95+/100 GSMW

Journey’s End Cape Doctor 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.5% Abv.

Classical sweet sappy Cabernet notes shine with black currant, wet tobacco leaf, graphite and sappy cedar spice. Finely weighted palate, an enlivening freshness and cool, plush layers of blue and black berry fruits and supple chalky tannins in support. Really very impressive. 95+/100 GSMW

Klein Graniet Tribute 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.

Deep fleshy black fruits shine on the nose with a kiss of salted liquorice, tilled earth and savoury black currant. The palate is chalky and soft, furry tannins coating the mouth. Plenty of power and grip on display, so give this time to unfurl fully. 94/100 GSMW

Le Grand Domaine Grand Vin de Stellenbosch 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.6% Abv.

The cool, creamy lactic aromatics suggest black berry chocolate gateau, salted toffee and delicate iodine notes. The palate is soft and supple, quite earthy with tilled loam, black currant and cold brewed tea tannins. Closing up a bit now so give this time. 93+/100 GSMW

Waterford Antigo 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 13.3% Abv.

This Cabernet heavy blend shows layers of black currant, crème de cassis, black cherry and subtle dry bushveld and fynbos herbal nuances. Plush, sleek and accessible, this is a more approachable expression with supple tannins and an effortlessly generous finish. Good to go now. 92+/100 GSMW

• Greg Sherwood was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and as the son of a career diplomat, spent his first 21 years traveling the globe with his parents. With a Business Management and Marketing degree from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Sherwood began his working career as a commodity trader. In 2000, he decided to make more of a long-held interest in wine taking a position at Handford Wines in South Kensington, London, working his way up to the position of Senior Wine Buyer over 22 years. Sherwood currently consults to a number of top fine wine merchants in London while always keeping one eye firmly on the South African wine industry. He qualified as the 303rd Master of Wine in 2007.