Eight Gates Reserve Red Blend 2023 Helderberg, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa 75cl

Eight Gates is the work of two friends who met at school in Cape Town more than thirty years ago and reunited over a shared love of good wine. Carlo Suter handles the winemaking, Kolja Sturmer the business, and every bottle is made in tiny numbers. The label takes its name from a book about the eight gates of wisdom in later life.

This is the top wine in the range, a reserve red drawn from the Yonder Hill farm high on the Helderberg above Somerset West. All three varieties, forty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, thirty eight Merlot and twenty two Cabernet Franc, were picked together on one March day and co fermented in a single open barrel, then moved to an egg shaped ‘Pyramitt’ cask for almost two years. Only 500 bottles exist.

Stellenbosch’s 2023 was a season of two faces. A cool, wet summer slowed ripening and cut yields to one of the smallest crops in a decade, before heavy March rains arrived. Fruit picked from favoured, well drained sites like these upper slopes came in fresh and fragrant, and the best reds of the year are medium bodied and agile rather than heavy.

The nose is all floral perfume, crushed leaves, red berries and a cooling hint of mint. Despite the alcohol on paper, the palate feels light on its feet, elegant and fresh, framed by fine, powdery tannins and a long dry finish. This is a red for the table, and it will reward five or more years in the cellar. Pour it with rare beef, venison or a hard, aged cheese.

Christian Eedes at Winemag scored the 2023 Reserve 91 points, drawn to its floral, red fruited elegance. In feel it sits closer to a graceful Left Bank claret than a big New World blend, all perfume and poise. As the most limited wine Eight Gates makes, it is one to open for a meal that matters, and to be quietly proud of sharing.