INSIDER'S PICK: 2019 RAATS FAMILY RED BLEND 'JASPER' STELLENBOSCH (Vinous 90points) $21.99

Bordeaux has a strong influence on the Stellenbosch region of South Africa, both pre- and post-Apartheid. Many of the early successes in the region modeled themselves off the more successful Chateaux and named Growth wines, featuring Cabernet Sauvignon in many of their top bottlings. More recently there are quite a few individual Chateaux investing in the region and helping to modernize production. Raats Family is a bit of an outlier, taking their inspiration more so from the Right Bank, focusing on featuring Cabernet Franc in the model of producers like Cheval Blanc, as well as some Loire-styled expressions. Jasper represents their most 'classic' Bordeaux bottling as it uses all five of the allowed varieties each vintage, with Cabernet Franc always making up the largest portion of the blend followed by Malbec. Smoky cherry and savory red berry aromas on the nose, with a touch of the meaty/iodine note that seems to often identify a lot of South African reds. As it opens up the prettier floral notes of Cabernet Franc start to emerge, whereas the palate gets more of the blacker currant notes from the Malbec. The palate is surprisingly refined and silky with lots of earthy dark fruits and very little oak presence in the flavor, only getting a bit of fine tannins at the finish for structure. This is a wine a Saint Emilion fan would love to try, as would any Bordeaux drinker looking to get into something new, great for dining now but can definitely evolve another decade.

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