Eagles’ Nest Reserve Shiraz 2022 Constantia, Western Cape, South Africa 75cl

Cellar master Craig Barnard learned his craft in demanding company, with harvests at Chateau Angelus in Bordeaux and Williams Selyem in California behind him before he arrived at Eagles’ Nest in 2022. His approach is to respect the fruit and the site above all, and nowhere does that show more clearly than in the estate’s flagship Constantia Shiraz.

Grown on steep, cool mountain slopes cooled by ocean air, this is Shiraz built for structure and length rather than easy fruit. The best parcels are selected, fermented carefully and matured with around 30 percent new French oak, a proportion judged to frame the wine without dominating it. The result is a red that speaks of place before power.

2022 was a small but outstanding Cape vintage. Cooler conditions slowed everything down, extending hang time and locking in colour, perfume and fine, ripe tannins. For cool-climate Shiraz it was close to ideal, giving wines with vivid fruit, freshness and the kind of tannic backbone that rewards time in the bottle.

Deep, brooding and floral, the nose layers bramble and blackberry over fynbos, cracked pepper and a stony, mineral note. The palate is intense but poised, with concentrated dark fruit, firm yet fine tannins and a long, savoury finish. It drinks well now with decanting, but will reward five to eight years in the cellar. Serve with lamb, venison or aged beef.

Tim Atkin scored this wine 95 points in his South Africa report, praising its floral, savoury intensity and mineral core. In feel it belongs alongside the finest cool-climate Syrah, closer to the Northern Rhone than to warmer New World reds. This is a wine for a special table, or for laying down and rewarding a little patience.