Thelema, Rabelais 2020
A wine of magnificent intensity, complexity and poise, Rabelais is a selection of the best individual barrels of Bordeaux varieties grown in Thelema’s vineyards – the 2020 vintage comprising 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot.
Concentrated aromas of dark berries and cedar wood on the nose are complemented by lovely sweet fruit and polished tannins on the palate. The wine finishes long and firm and will reward cellaring.
£59.50
Out of stock
Stellenbosch
Cabernet Sauvignon
LightFull Bodied
Description
A family owned and managed wine estate, part of the spectacular Simonsberg Mountain range in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Home to Thelema and Sutherland wines.
Francois Rabelais was a sixteenth – century French writer. His first novel describes an abbey on the banks of the Loire named Thélème where only one rule was observed: “Do what thou wilt!” Thelema is family run and has been making wine since 1988. The finest red wine of the vintage, blended from Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, honours the man who gave them their name.
TASTING NOTES & WINEMAKER’S COMMENTS
During our annual vintage review individual barrels are identified and earmarked for the Rabelais blend. Concentrated aromas of dark berries and cedar wood on the nose are complemented by lovely sweet fruit and polished tannins on the palate. The wine finishes long and firm and will reward cellaring.
The 2020 vintage is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot
This complex and full-bodied wine complements beef and game dishes.
VITICULTURAL PRACTICES
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon – CS 338C & CS 169A / Petit Verdot – Clone PV 219A
Root stock: 101-14 and R99
Soil type: Hutton – decomposed granite
Age of vines: Planted 2002 and 2003
Plant density: 2000 and 2110 vines per hectare respectively
Trellising: Vertical hedge
Pruning: 2-bud spurs every 12cm
Yield: 9.8 tons/ha (Cabernet), 9.5 tons/ha (PV)
Irrigation: Supplementary drip
Vintage: Moderate weather during the growing season lead to optimal ripening conditions allowing for evenly ripened fruit with great natural acidity and concentration of flavour.
Picking date: 28 February 2020 (Cabernet Sauvignon), 8 March 2020 (PV)
Grape sugar: 25.5°B (Cabernet), 23.9 °B (PV)
Acidity: 5.4 g/l (Cabernet), 7.7 g/l (PV)
pH at harvest: 3.6 (Cabernet), 3.3 (PV)
WINEMAKING PRACTICES
Yeasts: Alchemy4
Fermentation temp: 26 – 27 °C
Method: De-stalked, hand sorted, whole berries pumped into stainless steel fermentation tanks and pumped over twice a day until dry. After fermentation the wine is left on the skins for 12 hours before pressing, once pressed wine is racked to barrel for malolactic fermentation.
Wood Maturation: 18 months in 100% new 225 L French oak barrels
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Residual Sugar: 2.0 g/l
pH: 3.5
Total acid: 6.5 g/l
Alcohol: 14.5 %
Additional information
| Alcohol vol | 14.5% |
|---|---|
| Grape | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Origin | Stellenbosch |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Wine Farm |
This complex and full-bodied wine complements beef and game dishes.
96 points | Tim Atkin MW Special South Africa Report 2022
“The latest in a series of fine Rabelais releases, the 2020 marries Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot and has all the intensity, structure and concentration that you’d expect. Lavender and eucalyptus scented, with graceful, perfumed new wood, it’s herbal and refreshing with a core of blackberry and blackcurrant fruit. 2025-35”
Tim Atkin MW Special South Africa Report 2022 –
95 points | Platter’s Wine Guide 2023
“Range-topping blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon with 10% Petit Verdot. The 2020 vintage is pure class. Sublime varietal expression, earthy yet refined, seductive cassis highlighted with liquorice & tobacco, ample but subtle body. Outshines the excellent 2019 vintage. Built for the long road.”
Platter’s Wine Guide 2023 –
95 points | Greg Sherwood MW Wine Safari
“The 2020 Rabelais is another impressive Cape Bordeaux blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot. This is a striking wine with wafting aromatics of dried violets, iodine, graphite, kelp and sea breeze salinity and underlying notes of crème de cassis, red berries, dried mint leaf, milk chocolate, fresh pencil shavings and savoury tilled earth nuances. On the palate there is the most incredible briney salinity that resonates across the palate, combining with a fresh lemony acidity to invigorate layers of tart black cherry, red currants and pithy black berries supported by silky soft powdery tannins and an ample mid-palate weight of fruit extract. This is a very classy and dynamic wine that already shows impressive integration for a young wine but also a delightful harmony and core of fruit. It has all the attractive plushness with a gentle seductive power that many of the very best examples of the 2020 vintage exhibit and will undoubtedly feature as one of the top Cape Bordeaux blends of the vintage. Drink now and over the next 15+ years.”
Greg Sherwood MW Wine Safari Score –