Two big, bold, and very beautiful wines

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Looking for an extraordinary gift … here are two fine options

Each of the wines from the Muratie Estate, established in 1685 and hidden away in the exquisite Knorhoek valley in the premium Simonsberg wine ward, tells a story and honours one of the intriguing personalities from the past. The Muratie Martin Melck Cabernet Sauvignon honours Martin Melck, patriarch of the Melck clan in South Africa, one of the Cape’s greatest landowners and most influential stock-and wine-farmers.  Martin bought De Driesprong (Muratie) in 1763 and the farm remained in the hands of his descendants for 134 years, during which time the Muratie manor house was built.

Classically styled and restrained, concentrated dark fruit –  black cherries, berries and plums –  this is a full-bodied and complex wine, a wine of integration, balance and great length true to its terroir. It’s an authoritative wine, which will reward cellaring for at least another six years, so a lovely gift for those who appreciate that the finer things in life are worth waiting for. Around R240 a bottle from muratie.co.za/wine/buy-wine/ and at select fine wine merchants

Black. Barista Black. Do you know that, if the Authorised Biography of James Bond is to be believed, the world’s most celebrated secret agent is 100 years old? So, as it happens, is the Pinotage cultivar. And grabbing this coincidence with both hands, the team at Barista conceived a wine and bottling regal enough the match the richness of both the Pinoage and Bond legacies. This oppulent wine demands a well-deserved moment to slow down, and savour one’s hard-earned successes. With plums, red currants and baking spice intermingling beautifully on the nose, the wine has a juicy fruit core with velvety tannins and oak complexity. The finish is long, smooth and pleasantly dry. Just like James! Perfect to serve this Christmas, or to give a gift. You’ll find it in fine wine stores for around R150, or order online from baristawine.co.za

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