Chapoutier Archives

December 9, 2019September 26, 2026

Rietvallei Cabernet Sauvignon

Rietvallei Cabernet Sauvignon

This cab comes from the Rietvallei Wine Estate, located in the Robertson region of South Africa, outside of Johannesburg. This warm, low-rainfall area has excellent lime-rich soils, and is usually known for white wine, sherry, and brandy.

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Although you will see vintage dates throughout Winervana, I don’t put too much importance on them. Major producers these days strive for a consistent style, and largely succeed. (Especially in California, aided by the usually even climate there.) For instance, when shopping for a particular wine, if you have a choice between a current release and one that’s a few years old, there will certainly be differences in price and the character of the wine. But upon release, those two examples of the same wine are likely to be quite similar, especially for New World producers, who often enjoy more reliably consistent weather than Old World producers do. (Of course, global climate change may disrupt things for everybody.)

Wine Enthusiast has an interesting post about this here.