Raats MR

Cassis, blackberry and boysenberry fruit all mingle seamlessly with spicy, herbal tones of licorice root, Maduro tobacco, lightly charred cedar and wood spice on the nose and mouth of this robust wine. The palate is plush and bold in feel, with spicy, well-structured tannins that provide ample support to the ripe black fruit tones and a lingering grip to the close. It's well balanced and all in equal measure, suggesting a wine that's built for the long haul. Drink 2024–2030.

This wine is the product of a team effort by winemakers and friends Mzokona Mvemve (the M) and Bruwer Raats (the R). The first vintage was 2004, and every vintage is different due to a rather unique blending process. The two of them score each potential component individually, pushing aside everything that doesn’t attain an average score of 90, and then work together to assemble what they believe will be the best wine attainable from the materials provided by the particular growing season. Well, 2015 is a famously outstanding vintage for red wines in Stellenbosch, so it is hardly surprising that this is a smashing success. It is a very expressive and flavorful wine, but really not heavy, and is either at the lighter end of “full-bodied” or the meatier end of “medium-bodied.” The aromas are wonderfully complex and alluring, and the flavors show both red and black fruit tones, though the balance leans toward black. The tannins are abundant but fine in grain, and the wood component is perfectly tuned to the weight and flavor impact of the wine. One aspect that I particularly admire is that there’s nothing overblown about this — none of the extraneous weight or wood or ripeness that I often find in what I refer to as “statement wines.” I remarked on this when tasting it with Bruwer Raats, who simply responded, “There are enough monsters in the world.” Well said. And by the way, I also tasted the 2016 edition with Mzokona Mvemve a few days later and it, too, is terrific.