Ridgeback Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa 75cl

Ridgeback’s Cabernet Sauvignon is the estate in classic mode, a wine made to show the grape’s structure and depth without heaviness. From the family property on the northern slopes of Paarl, where fynbos grows among the vines, it is Cabernet built with a steady, traditional hand.

Made entirely from Cabernet Sauvignon off the estate’s warmer slopes, it is given the whole berry ferment and the time in French oak that a serious Cabernet needs. The aim is ripeness with poise, a wine that has the frame of a proper claret and the fruit of the Cape. It is the estate’s benchmark red in a firmer, more structured vintage.

2018 sat at the depth of the Western Cape’s long drought, the smallest crop in over a decade. The vines carried little fruit, but the berries were small and intensely flavoured, and for a structured red that concentration counts for a great deal. It is a vintage that rewarded patient winemaking and now rewards patient drinking.

Cassis, mulberry and dark plum lead the nose, with cigar box and a note of liquorice adding savoury depth. Firm, ripe tannins give the wine its frame, gentle oak spice its polish, and a long, mineral finish its length. A few years in bottle have softened its edges. Decant it an hour ahead and serve with ribeye, a slow roast or a hearty stew.

This is Cabernet in the classic idiom, closer to Bordeaux than to the big, sweet New World style, and all the better for a firm vintage behind it. If you enjoy a structured Stellenbosch or Left Bank red, it will feel familiar. A wine for a proper dinner or the cellar, poured with confidence in its balance.