2021 Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2021 Chocolate Block opens with fresh red fruits, spicy potpourri, plum skin, dark cherry and dusty flowers. With a medium to full body, it presents a delightful mix of red and pink peppercorns. The wine offers succulence and balance with a firm tannic edge and a spicy and delightful finish. This blend, composed of 74% Syrah, 10% Grenache, 8% Cinsault, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Viognier, aged for 14 months in a combination of Stockinger foudre and older French oak. It deserves applause. Bravo! A total of 953,400 bottles were filled.
Critic scores
Neal Martin
Anthony Mueller, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2021 The Chocolate Block had been bottled a month before my visit. The Grenache and Cinsault plus part of the Syrah comes from Boekenhoutskloof's own vines and the remainder from purchased fruit. It undergoes whole berry fermentation and aged for 14 months in French barriques and two oak foudres. This has a much more refined and focused bouquet than the Chocolate Blocks of yore, brambly black fruit mixed with pencil lead and undergrowth. Impressive delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with powdery tannins, well judged acidity, quite structured and sappy towards the finish. Fine length.