Raka Biography Shiraz 2022

I once rather liked Biography Shiraz from Raka – the property officially designated as Klein River, situated between Stanford and Caledon. My recollection was that the wine was medium-bodied, red fruited and suitably spicy.

The 2022 vintage is currently listed at Woolworths at R209.99 a bottle, so the corporate buyers have clearly decided it ticks the requisite boxes of category fit and margin. I picked up a bottle during a routine shop…

Matured in a combination of French and American oak, partially new, for 12 months, the nose is stylistically and oddly retro with vanilla plus notable toasty, smoky notes before red and black cherry and spice. The palate is rich and smooth textured, a slightly burnt quality to the finish (alc:14.5%). More commercially expedient than it used to be?

CE’s rating: 88/100.

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