Spice Route Chakalaka Swartland 2023
£20.75
The wine
Layered dark berries, black tea, cocoa and sweet oak. Rich, with cranberry and red berry on the palate.
Chakalaka is a South African relish of tomato, onion and chilli, and the wine is a blend of five or six varieties in the Rhône idiom. The Swartland is dry-farmed bush-vine country on granite and schist north of Cape Town, and it has become the most interesting corner of South African wine precisely because nobody irrigated or over-planted it. Spice Route farm 100 hectares at Malmesbury and Darling in the Swartland, the name recalling the trade route that first brought European ships to the Cape.
The producer
Spice Route
View all Spice Route winesSpice Route is a pioneering Swartland estate that helped put this now-celebrated South African region on the map. Championing Mediterranean varieties and old bush vines, it crafts bold, characterful wines of real value.
The warm, dry Swartland and its granite and schist soils are ideal for Rhône and Iberian grapes, farmed as low-yielding, unirrigated bush vines. The winemaking is generous yet balanced, capturing the region ripe fruit and savoury character.
The range spans juicy Grenache, savoury Mourvedre, ripe Pinotage and old-vine Chenin Blanc, crowned by the flagship Chakalaka blend of Mediterranean varieties.
Bold, characterful and superb value, Spice Route offers a genuine taste of the Swartland exciting, sun-drenched style.
