JOURNEY’S END | Cape Doctor | The Red | 2016
cabernet sauvignon | cabernet franc | merlot | malbec | petit verdot
We will be evaluating wines in no particular order on no particular schedule. Just stay tuned and you will never miss our reviews. If the wine is tasted more than once, the rating table will be updated so as to reflect all the new impressions and observations.
Today we are going to review a very special wine, a masterpiece from South Africa‘s famous Stellenbosch wine region – Cape Doctor The Red 2016 by Journey’s End. Cape Doctor is the local name for the strong south-eastern wind that blows from False Bay and funnels through to Cape Town and Blouberg. It works its magic by blowing away smog and impurities, clearing the skies and making way for some fresh sea air, resulting in a long ripening season, which in turn produces concentrated berries with fantastically firm acidity. The wine we are reviewing today is the winemaker’s flagship wine that produced only in the most exceptional years: a blend of all five Bordeaux’s major grape varieties: cabernet sauvignon (41%), cabernet franc (37%), merlot (11%), malbec (6%) and petit verdot (5%), where cabernet sauvignon forms the wine’s main body and structure, malbec adds up-front richness and black fruit flavors, merlot rounds up and smoothens the final blend, cabernet franc delivers a more refined mid-palate, while petit verdot brings more floral notes, tannins and color extract. Among the long, rolling slopes of the Stellenbosch winelands, caressed by cool coastal breezes, lies the boutique Journey’s End Winery. The grapes for this wine are sourced from the estate’s five blocks that are planted on the foothills of the Hottentots Holland Mountains, on south-facing slopes that are dominated by granite soils. The grapes from each block were picked and vinified separately using both, stainless steel tanks as well as 5000-liters open top casks. The final blend has been aged for 22 months in french oak barrels, with cabernet sauvignon and merlot aged in new oak barriques, while cabernet franc, malbec and petit verdot aged in second fill barriques. Only 16 barrels made it into the final wine. That said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
_________________________________________________________________________
Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:
//Visual
colour: medium-deep garnet color
clarity: hazy copper shades on the rim
//Olfactory
intensity: rich & mature
fruit profile: red fruits | black fruits
__red fruits: red currant | dried cranberry | red plum | dried sour cherry
__black fruits: blackberry | blackcurrant | dried black plum
fruit character: ripe & dried
//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | savory | earthy | other
__spice: red pepper | cloves | rooibos tea
__oak: lightly roasted oakwood | sun-dried oak | oaktree bark | tobacco
__savory: leather | iron | brown olive
__earthy: brown soil | clay | loam | forest floor | mushroom
primary layer: oak & earth
//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: medium+
alcohol: high
tannin: medium+
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: seediness
body: round | medium+
//Taste
fruit profile: red fruits & black fruits
fruit character: overripe & dried
non fruit: spice & oak
finish: medium+
aftertaste: seedy
//Scoring
JOURNEY’S END | Cape Doctor | The Red | 2016
variety: cabernet sauvignon | cabernet franc | merlot | malbec | petit verdot
country: South Africa
region: Stellenbosch
rating: 94.0
//Conclusion
maturity: developing | age for 3 or 4 more years
verdict: great | a must try wine
//Prediction
RP rating: 90
_________________________________________________________________________This is definitely a great wine of South Africa and, with a total of 94.0 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.
Verdict: this is a quite round, seedy and complex wine blend, with a very noble, firm and potent palate. It is still developing in the bottle, therefore we would recommend to give it another 3 or 4 years of ageing, in order to allow the wine to develop further complexity and roundness. On the nose it brings a mixture of ripe and dried red fruits in the foreground, followed by a spicy-oaky background and an earthy-savory layer in between. On the palate the wine delivers mouth-watering acidity, grippy tannins and a touch of alcoholic warmth showing through on the mouthfeel, which forms into a seedy and very appealing finale. All in all, this is a very well structured, harmonious and nicely balanced wine blend, with a great ageing potential – this is a wine that will pair nicely with any grilled or barbequed meats. Enjoy!
_________________________________________________________________________
© The WineStatistics ratings are based solely on our own knowledge of the world of wine and on our personal wine tastes, which may, or may not, differ from yours – the reader. Just remember that there are no absolutes of right and wrong in wine appreciation.
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
WineStatistics is a non-profit community. We produce independent and highly detailed wine reviews.
By training ourselves to stop, take a breath, and pay attention to the subtle elements that distinguish one wine from any other, we learn an important lesson about life – that it’s worth taking the time to slow down and appreciate things that pleases us, from a glass of wine to a great work of art. It’s a simple way to learn to appreciate the little things in life that may in some small way enhance our enjoyment of every day.
In order to continue our work we need support from people like you. People who appreciate our contribution in spreading wine knowledge and raising wine awareness across the borders.
You may now support us by contributing with a one-time donation so that we can review even more wines.
WineStatistics is a non-profit community. We produce independent and highly detailed wine reviews.
By training ourselves to stop, take a breath, and pay attention to the subtle elements that distinguish one wine from any other, we learn an important lesson about life – that it’s worth taking the time to slow down and appreciate things that pleases us, from a glass of wine to a great work of art. It’s a simple way to learn to appreciate the little things in life that may in some small way enhance our enjoyment of every day.
In order to continue our work we need support from people like you. People who appreciate our contribution in spreading wine knowledge and raising wine awareness across the borders.
You may now support us by contributing with a monthly donation so that we can review even more wines.
WineStatistics is a non-profit community. We produce independent and highly detailed wine reviews.
By training ourselves to stop, take a breath, and pay attention to the subtle elements that distinguish one wine from any other, we learn an important lesson about life – that it’s worth taking the time to slow down and appreciate things that pleases us, from a glass of wine to a great work of art. It’s a simple way to learn to appreciate the little things in life that may in some small way enhance our enjoyment of every day.
In order to continue our work we need support from people like you. People who appreciate our contribution in spreading wine knowledge and raising wine awareness across the borders.
You may now support us by contributing with a yearly donation so that we can review even more wines.