Jancis Robinson and her team of distinguished wine reviewers is one of the most respected journalistic institutions in the wine industry, world-wide. Her taster Tamlyn Currin* recently sat down for a virtual tasting with us, of the maiden release Radford Dale Organic wines from Elgin; all four wines garnered some delightful feedback and scored 17.5 / 20 points - aka just 'a cut above superior'.
Scroll down to read the reviews...
(*Tamlyn Currin is Sustainability Editor for jancisrobinson.com and has a particular interest in all things sustainable - read more about Tamlyn)
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"We're really stoked, it reminds me why we live the life we do and put so much into it!" Alex Dale, founder of Radford Dale
Jancis Robinson is a British wine writer and critic who rose to fame in the mid-1980s after becoming the first MW (Master of Wine) from outside the wine trade. She is now one of the most influential commentators in the business, and writes a weekly column for the Financial Times as well as running her own website, JancisRobinson.com.
Robinson co-authored the World Atlas of Wine with Hugh Johnson and is the editor of the Oxford Companion to Wine. She is also widely viewed as a world authority on ampelography and has published extensively on the topic.
In 2003, she was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and has been appointed as an advisor of the royal wine cellar.
Robinson gives wine ratings based on both how the wine was showing at the time of tasting and its potential to improve with age.
Radford Dale Organic Revelation Semillon 2022 (Elgin) - 17.5 pts
"A Semillon as aromatic as this one is unusual. It has the fragrance of bergamot, of lemon- scented jasmine, of pale-yellow roses, of lemongrass. But as ethereal as it is on the nose, it is element and entity on the palate. The acidity forges the shape of the wine, like an orb, like a harvest moon rising, full and rich and gold turning silver-bright-white on the watch. It has the texture of pomelo peel, oils and pith: grip and slip and oil and rich bitterness. It has density and chew, a long ripe spine of fleshy sweet bitterness. The finish is salty, tangy and visceral. You will want to lick the glass out"
Radford Dale Organic Touchstone Chardonnay 2022 (Elgin) - 17.5 pts
"It starts quietly, slowly, almost tentatively appearing from the glass with sweet tangerine and orange blossom notes, a touch of struck flint. And then it begins to build: quietly, slowly, tentatively. Yuzu, chamomile, smoked sour cream and clementine-sweet acidity. Grilled chestnuts on a sunny winter afternoon – bright horizontal white-light purity, nutty warmth, earthy crème de marrons. The silky weight of this wine is strikingly sensual. It's like cool butterfly-light fingers running over warm curves, filling spaces with vibrations. This sets a whole new bar for Elgin Chardonnay."
Radford Dale Organic Freedom Pinot Noir 2022 (Elgin) - 17.5 pts
"Rosehip, bruised raspberries and, exactly as Jacques de Klerk says, a distinct cola note. There is also an under-tonal timbre of rain on black slate, firm yet smooth. And a penumbra of the underloam; wispy white mycorrhizal whispers of mushrooms in the deepest places of the forest. The tannins feel like a child's breath through a gossamer- knit cashmere scarf, weightless, yet with crochet-knot intricacy. Persistent, insistent, and, on the end, the scent of petrichor on a summer night"
Radford Dale Organic Higher Purpose Cabernet-Franc 2022 (Elgin) - 17.5 pts
"A wine like this, when tasted in context of Lokaia and Lukas van Loggerenberg's Cabernet Francs, increasingly convinces me that South Africa's most beautiful red wines lie in the off-beat varieties, the ones that are so often seen as blending ingredients, like Cinsault and Cabernet Franc. The wine glows in the mouth, ruby sweet, jewelled, cut with the precision of a gemstone and yet so full of luminous light that the angles feel like curves. Sylph-soft, satin-slip tannins. It has, as all true Cab Franc has, a green-stone heartbeat: like luminous green moss on forest-stream stones. Angelica, baby tarragon leaves, cilantro stems and the sweet, sweet perfume of ripe redcurrants. It's a hauntingly beautiful wine."
Buy the Radford Dale Organic wines online