Fleur du Cap Series Privée Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Stellenbosch South Africa 75cl

Fleur du Cap has been a fixture of the Cape wine scene since 1968, when its first wines emerged from Die Bergkelder, the cellar cut deep into the Papegaaiberg hillside at Stellenbosch. Under winemaker Kristin Basson, the label draws on parcels from across the Cape winelands to build wines of consistent polish.

Series Privée is the range where that ambition is dialled up. Grapes are handpicked and carefully sorted, and this bottling is a single-variety Cabernet Sauvignon from Stellenbosch, the district most associated with the grape in South Africa. Only the best fruit makes it into the Series Privée bottling, and the aim is a refined, complete wine rather than a blockbuster.

The 2016 vintage came from a drier, warmer growing season, which concentrated flavours and gave reds real depth of colour and fruit. Wines from this harvest tend to combine ripe, dark fruit with the structure to age well over the medium term. It is a year that suits Cabernet’s naturally firm frame.

Expect concentrated aromas of black cherry and plum, lifted by cedar, fine oak and a signature note of lead pencil. There is a savoury, almost graphite edge beneath the fruit that keeps everything serious rather than sweet. The palate is generous but composed, with ripe, polished tannins carrying a long finish.

This is a red built for the table. It rewards an hour in a decanter, and shines alongside roast beef, a peppered steak or slow-cooked red meat. Give younger bottles a few years to soften and deepen.