Jamie Goode's Latest Reviews of the Radford Dale range
New releases from Radford Dale, South Africa: the over-delivering Vinum wines, plus their new organic wines
Radford Dale are producing some very smart wines at the moment. They are getting the style right (aiming for freshness and elegance over power), and they also have a nice portfolio structure. Here are my notes on the latest releases. The Vinum range is the one that offers some really excellent value for money, with very smart wines at non-crazy prices. And they also have an excellent organic range, which was bolstered by the purchase of what was previously Elgin Ridge, a biodynamically farmed vineyard established by Brian and Marion Smith.
Vinum
Radford Dale Vinum Chenin Blanc 2024 Stellenbosch, South Africa
12.5% alcohol. This is concentrated and has lots of flavour, but it’s also a fresh wine with a nice salty twist to the lively lemon and pear fruit, as well as a slight touch of baked apple. There’s a really nice fresh, floral, mandarin edge to the nose that’s quite inviting, and it finishes with a nice acid flourish. A brilliantly poised example of Chenin Blanc. 93/100
Radford Dale Vinum Chardonnay 2024 Stellenbosch, South Africa
12% alcohol. This is layered and more complex than you’d expect at this price point, with crystalline citrus fruit as well as some pear and peach. Fresh with nice acidity, but it’s not at all harsh. Lovely textural character with some appley detail adding interest and depth. 93/100
Radford Dale Vinum Grenache 2024 Stellenbosch, South Africa
13.5% alcohol. This is bright, supple and fresh with raspberry and strawberry fruit. It’s juicy, pure and vivid with an appealing green hint to the fruit. Tending towards elegance, but with a bit of grip and nice density of fruit. Very stylish, showing off the elegant, understated side of this variety. 93/100
Radford Dale Vinum Gamay Noir 2024 Stellenbosch, South Africa
13% alcohol. This is bright, juicy and vibrant, with cherry and raspberry fruit. Floral with some nice green notes, showing vitality and intensity. This really captures Gamay well, with vibrant berry fruits plus some appealing greenness, and a juicy brightness. Stony and mineral, too. 93/100
Radford Dale Vinum Pinotage 2024 Coastal Region, South Africa
13.5% alcohol. This is ripe and sweetly fruited with soft strawberry as well as a bit of raspberry crunch here. So textured and interesting with lovely sweet fruit backed up with a bit of spicy framing and some structure. This is delicious and massively drinkable, and doesn’t taste much like Pinotage of old, which is a good thing. 93/100
Radford Dale Vinum Pinot Noir 2024 Cape Coast, South Africa
13% alcohol. This is bright and sweetly fruited with ripe cherries and some red berry notes. There’s a good volume here with a core of sweet fruit. Ripe, rich and quite tasty, with lots of sweet fruit in the mix. 91/100
Radford Dale Organic
Radford Dale Touchstone Chardonnay 2024 Elgin, South Africa
12.5% alcohol. Organic. Beautiful aromatics with broad pear and peach fruit as well as some grapefruit and a hint of nice parmesan and salt. The palate shows bitter lemon and pear fruit with a saline twist and some spicy framing. It’s a really expressive wine with lots of fruit and some apple notes accompanying the citrus. Lovely flavour dynamics here. There’s even a hint of tequila. So interesting. 94/100
Radford Dale Revelation Semillon 2024 Elgin, South Africa
12.5% alcohol. Organic. This is so distinctive: it’s bright and fresh with pear and lemon fruit, with nice density and some grapefruit pith. There’s depth but it stays very focused, and the crystalline fruit is supported with really good acidity. There’s a concentration of flavour here as well as freshness and acidity. Lovely wine. 94/100
Radford Dale Higher Purpose Cabernet Franc 2024 Elgin, South Africa
13.5% alcohol. This is really bright, vivid and focused with brisk cherry and raspberry fruit as well as some herbal hints and a fine spiciness, as well as some sweet acidity. There’s a chalky note in the background that’s really appealing, and typical of the variety. This is supple and quite elegant with nice precision. Not a big, heavy wine, but one that shows nice poise. 94/100
Radford Dale Freedom Pinot Noir 2024 Elgin, South Africa
This Pinot is supple and delicately structured with sweet cherry and raspberry fruit with a hint of aniseed and some dried herb notes. It’s tending to elegance and shows nice precision, with a sweet, smooth core of fruit and then a touch of dustiness and a bit of structure. 94/100
Terroir
Radford Dale Renaissance Chenin Blanc 2023 Stellenbosch, South Africa
12.5% alcohol. This is a complex, richly textural expression of Chenin Blanc with pear, apple, peach and apricot notes, but it’s not blowsy. Very expressive with nice weight. Bold, rich fruit on the palate with a wide dynamic range, hitting the rich bass but also with good mid and enough treble. Very fine. 95/100
Radford Dale Frankenstein Pinotage 2023 Stellenbosch, South Africa
12% alcohol. This is a really interesting interpretation of Pinotage. There’s some density to the fruit here, with raspberries and cherries as well as a hint of damson, with some earthy hints, a twist of green, and some grippy structure. There’s a Pinotage-like sweet and sour character, with herbs and ripe sweet fruit, but overall this is quite focused, fruit-driven and deliciousness, with just a hint of sourness and bitterness on the finish. Herbs, cherries, plums and some liquorice notes. 92/100
