Ahrens Family Seventy No.S Red 2023 Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa 75cl

Albert Ahrens founded The Ahrens Family in 2008 after two decades of winemaking that took in the Rhone, Priorat, Champagne and a long stint at Lammershoek in the Swartland. He is best known for terroir-driven wines with a fixed sense of origin, made simply and without heavy oak. Everything is bottled at his small cellar south of Paarl, and each wine is meant to speak for a particular place.

Stellenbosch Seventy is a pair of Regional reds exploring the two faces of Stellenbosch, and this is No.S, the southern one. It is a Bordeaux-style blend of roughly Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, drawn from older vineyards on decomposed quartz and shale over iron-rich gravel. Ahrens wants it to capture the softer, more perfumed character of the south, and in time to help define that style.

In Stellenbosch, 2023 was a cool, dry growing season that suited the reds, though heavy rain arrived in early March. Ahrens’s southern sites and the earlier-ripening varieties in the blend were well placed to come in in good condition ahead of the worst weather. The cool season shows in the wine’s fresh, measured feel, with ripeness achieved without any jammy heaviness.

Deep ruby with a garnet edge. The nose leads with cassis, dark plum and red cherry, backed by cedar, tobacco leaf, graphite and a hint of dried herb. Medium to full-bodied and neatly structured, it has ripe dark fruit, a savoury core and firm but fine-grained tannins. The finish is long and gently grippy. Match it with roast lamb, steak or hard cheese, and cellar for up to eight years.

Wine writer Tim James, who has visited the cellar, notes the structure and quiet seriousness of these Stellenbosch reds. In feel this leans classic and Bordeaux-like, closer to a restrained left-bank claret than to a lavish New World blend, with the Merlot lending a rounder, southern softness. It is a natural choice for a considered dinner, and it will reward those who give it a few years.