2001 Vergelegen "V"

(est. 100; 90% cabernet sauvignon with 9% merlot and 1% cab franc; aged for 18 months in all new, tight-grained Sylvain barrels) Very deep, saturated ruby-red. Sexy, expressive aromas of black raspberry, plum and smoke. Plush, smoky and superripe, with more obvious sweetness and lower acidity than the estate blend. Comes across as more of a competition wine than a wine of site. Finishes thick and hugely tannic, but without any rough edges. Perhaps the least typical of the Vergelegen reds (Rensburg candidly describes this as his wine for the international market), with less structure than the estate blend, but still a wonderfully showy, dense and captivating wine. (Incidentally, the young 2003 tasted from barrel appears to be finer-grained and a bit more classic in style.)