Radford Dale Gravity 2010

“Entirely selfishly”, winemaker Alex Dale says, this wine “is made with our own palates in mind”. Well it’s a ruddy good job they don’t have palates made of stone is all we could say.

In fact, they have ludicrously discerning palates at The Winery of Good Hope and they have made a sterling wine in Gravity. Churning out the hot spice of the Shiraz, the tannic, blueberry goodness of the Cabernet and the supple, come-hither juiciness of Merlot, it’s a winning combination, for anyone’s palate.

In the vineyard and also in the cellar, their approach can be best described as a fusion of tradition and innovation. While their own philosophy is greatly influenced by the values and traditions of the Old World, they don’t ignore the cues derived from the local environment. They believe strongly in the Cape's ability (and especially the mountains of the Helderberg, Perdeberg and Elgin) to produce wines of superb elegance and inimitable character, while placing a great deal of faith in their chosen varieties to express the extraordinary array of terroirs that make these sites - with precious little intervention themselves.

The Winery of Good Hope is located in the region of Stellenbosch in the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, founded in 1998 and specialising in the mountainous viticultural sub regions of the Helderberg (Stellenbosch), Elgin and the Perdeberg (Swartland). They produce four distinctive wine ranges using traditional, natural viticultural and winemaking methods, at their cellar on the Helderberg mountain. They are fully accredited for enviromental, ethical, and social-upliftment practices.

Wine from the Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are all knitted together by patient, hands-off maturation. This wine bears the hallmark of the region it was reared in and the mineral soils in which it has its roots. “Entirely selfishly”, they say “it is made with our own palates in mind.”

Each varietal contributes its unique facets; the Shiraz its persevering spiciness and its gutsy, supple body, the Cabernet its blueberry backbone and dense, ripe tannins and the Merlot its deep red-berry fruit and suave mouth-feel.