Le Bonheur new releases

After my recent column entitled “Where are alcohol levels headed?”, Edo Heyns, who is strategic development and marketing manager at at AdVini South Africa, the company that owns Le Bonheur in Stellenbosch among other properties, dropped me a line to say “We are going lower!”

Out of the Le Bonheur new-release reds, not one of them has an alcohol above 14%. The Merlot 2020 is 13.34%, the Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 is 13.35%, the Cape Bordeaux Red Blend known as Prima 2020 is 13.43%, the Petit Verdot Reserve 2020 is 13.51% and the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2019 is 12.97%.

Tasting notes and ratings as follows:

Le Bonheur Merlot 2020
Price: R130
Red and black berries plus attractive herbal, leafy notes. Medium bodied with fresh acidity and fine tannins, the finish nicely dry. Unobtrusive oak and rather elegant.

CE’s rating: 90/100.

Le Bonheur Prima 2020
Price: R130
Red and black berries, a hint of mint, cigar box, vanilla and chocolate on the nose. Again medium bodied and understated, the extraction well judged. A sappy wine with reasonable detail.

CE’s rating: 90/100.

Le Bonheur Cabernet Sauvigon 2020
Price: R150
Cranberry, cassis and some leafiness on the nose. Good fruit purity, bright acidity and firm but fine tannins. All components in agreement, the result being a wine that provides unpretentious and pleasing everyday drinking.

CE’s rating: 90/100.

Le Bonheur Petit Verdot Reserve 2020
Price: R500
Expressive aromatics with notes of red and black berries, violets, fresh herbs and spcie. The palate is succulent but not excessively so – fruit to the fore, bright acidity and lightly grippy tannins.

CE’s rating: 92/100.

Le Bonheur Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2019
Price: R500
Matured for 18 months in French oak, 100% new. Red and black berries, a hint of tobacco, olive and toasty oak on the nose. The palate has excellent fruit definition – concentrated but not weighty or thick-textured.  This has both vibrancy and structure, the tannins still rather firm. Excellent focus and length.

CE’s rating: 94/100.

Check out our South African wine ratings database.