The Chocolate Block: South Africa's cult Syrah blend

Some wines make people stop mid-conversation and ask what it was called. The Chocolate Block does that reliably. The name suggests something sweet, which it is not. It is a Syrah-led South African red, bold and spiced, and at £28 it is one of the few genuinely famous bottles the Cape has produced.

What is actually in it

There is no chocolate in it. The name refers to the dark fruit intensity and the velvety texture, which together suggest good dark chocolate without tasting anything like it.

The blend is built around Syrah, with Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cinsault filling it out, plus a small amount of Viognier for perfume and lift. Marc Kent, the winemaker, sources from several sites across the Western Cape and blends towards a result rather than a rule. It is a modern Cape approach: less concerned with tradition, more concerned with what tastes good.

What to expect in the glass

The colour is deep ruby-purple and tells you about the concentration before you smell anything. The nose gives ripe blackberry and dark cherry, violet, black pepper, and the smoky note that sits behind the name.

On the palate the Syrah supplies blackcurrant, plum and dark cherry. Grenache brings silky tannins, Cinsault adds brighter red berry, and the Viognier lifts the whole thing with a floral edge. It is full-bodied without weighing you down, and spicy without being aggressive.

Balance is what most people notice. The wine fills your mouth, then finishes long and warm rather than jammy.

Serving and keeping

It drinks well on release and will improve for five to eight years if stored properly. Young bottles benefit from half an hour in a decanter, which noticeably opens up the aromatics.

Serve it a little below room temperature, around 16 to 17°C. Too warm and the alcohol takes over. Too cold and you lose the fruit.

Vintages vary, as they should. Some years lean towards power and concentration, others towards finesse, while the house style stays recognisable underneath. More recent releases have tended towards balance rather than sheer weight, which has made the wine easier to put on a dinner table.

What to eat with it

The bold fruit and spice suit hearty British cooking. Slow-roasted lamb with rosemary, a beef and ale stew, or bangers and mash with properly caramelised onions all work.

In summer it is excellent with barbecued lamb chops or a steak off the grill, where the smoke in the glass meets the char on the meat.

For cheese, go for aged Cheddar or Stilton, where the fruit sweetness balances the sharpness. It does also work with dark chocolate puddings, though that is more of a party trick than the best use of the bottle.

The estate behind it

Boekenhoutskloof was founded in 1776 in Franschhoek, the French corner, and has been making wine for more than two centuries. Its modern reputation was built by Marc Kent, who arrived in the 1990s and turned it into one of the most respected producers in the country.

The Chocolate Block launched in the late 1990s and became the calling card. If you want to see what else the estate does, Boekenhoutskloof Syrah at £48 and Boekenhoutskloof Semillon at £48 are the two to try, and The Wolftrap Red at £11.69 is the same team working at the other end of the price range.

Why it mattered

The Chocolate Block did more than collect scores. For years South African wine was filed under either bulk commodity or rustic curiosity. This bottle helped demonstrate that the Cape could make something sophisticated that competed internationally without apology.

It belongs to a generation of Cape wines confident enough to stop imitating European models. That confidence is what makes them distinctive in a crowded market, and it is why our South African blends section is one of the more interesting parts of the range.

Buying it

Good vintages do sell out. When you find one, buying more than a single bottle is sensible: one to drink now, one to put away for a few years, and one for somebody who has not yet worked out that South African wine is worth their attention.

If you want it for a table rather than a couple, the magnum at £60 is better value than two bottles and looks considerably more generous. The half bottles at £17.49 are the version for a quiet Wednesday. All of it ships across the UK.