Black Elephant Vintners Three Men in a Tub with a Rubber Duck Red Blend 2023 750ml

SOUTH AFRICA : WESTERN CAPE

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot

MED-BODIED, BLACKCURRANT, PLUM, RASPBERRY, CACAO, OAK

From Black Elephant Vintners — a Black-owned winery in Franschhoek founded by Kevin Swart, Raymond Ndlovu, and Jacques Wentzel, two of whose surnames became the winery's name: Swart is “black” in Afrikaans, Ndlovu is “elephant” in Nguni. Fruit is handpicked from sites across the coastal Western Cape, fermented spontaneously on native yeast, and matured in French oak. Cabernet brings the backbone, Merlot softens the edges.

2023 was one of South Africa’s cooler seasons — Vinpro puts it alongside 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2021 — and, on their own estimate, may be one of its smallest harvests in more than a decade. It shows: blackcurrant and plum over pencil shavings and toasty oak, fine tannins, more definition than weight. Serve it cool — the producer and the importer both say so.

PAIRINGS :