2022 Thelema - Rabelais (750ml)

Thelema Mountain Vineyards sits on the Helshoogte Pass in Stellenbosch, on the southeastern slopes of the Simonsberg mountain. Gyles Webb, an accountant by training, purchased the run down fruit farm in 1983 with support from his wife's family, replacing the old orchards with vines and restoring the manor house before releasing the first wines under the Thelema label in 1988. Rabelais takes its name from Francois Rabelais, the sixteenth century French writer whose novel describes a fictional abbey governed by a single rule, do what thou wilt, a spirit the estate honors with its finest wine of each vintage.

Rabelais is a Bordeaux style blend built primarily around Cabernet Sauvignon, with Petit Verdot rounding out the mix at roughly ten percent, a formula the estate settled into starting with the 2009 vintage. Individual barrels are identified during each year's vintage review, with only the very best earning a place in the final blend. After handpicking, destemming, and sorting, the grapes ferment in steel tanks, then spend additional days on the skins before pressing. The wine completes malolactic fermentation in barrique and ages for a total of twenty months in French oak, entirely new wood.

The wine opens with intense, concentrated aromas of dark berry fruit, joined by hints of mocha and fragrant cedar. On the palate, sweet ripe fruit meets refined, polished tannins, carrying through to a long and beautifully balanced finish. Its power and structure make it a natural match for beef or game, and it holds up especially well alongside roasted venison with a rich red wine sauce.