Buying Guides2 November 20264 min read

Stellenbosch red wine: the three bottles we would choose

By South African Wines

Two Helderberg Cabernet blends and a cool-site Pinot Noir, with the food and the timing that suit each one.

Stellenbosch red wine is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and the blends built around it, and two of our three picks follow that tradition. The third is a Pinot Noir from the same district, which surprises people who know the place only for its heavier reds. Our ranking of everything we stock from Stellenbosch covers the whole range. These are the three we would put in front of a friend who asked.

The district lies about fifty kilometres east of Cape Town, ringed by mountains, with granite soils that drain fast. Two of these wines come from the Helderberg, the corner nearest False Bay, where afternoon sea breezes slow the ripening. You notice that at the table: both Helderberg wines carry 14% alcohol or more, yet keep enough fresh acidity to stay lively through a long dinner.

Rows of vines across the valley floor at Stellenbosch Rows of vines across the valley floor at Stellenbosch

Vergelegen Estate Red, for a big occasion or for keeping

The Vergelegen Estate Red is the most classic Stellenbosch bottle of the three, a Bordeaux-style blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. Each grape is picked and fermented separately in stainless steel, then aged for twelve months in French oak, a quarter of it new, before the final blend is assembled. The oak adds cedar and graphite (think of a freshly sharpened pencil) to the dark fruit, and the wine finishes dry with fine-grained tannin.

The 2022 has scored well with critics. Tim Atkin MW gave it 94 in his South Africa Report, and Christian Eedes of Winemag.co.za and Jamie Goode of Wine Anorak both scored it 92. At 14.5% it is the fullest of our picks, so give it food with some weight, such as pan-seared venison with a blackberry jus or an oxtail stew cooked slowly with root vegetables.

It also keeps. The producer gives it around fifteen years from vintage, and over that time the tannin softens while cigar-box and leather notes come through. A second bottle left in a cool, dark cupboard for five years or more will show those changes.

Ernie els Major Series Double red, for steak and braises

The Ernie Els Major Series Double Red is a two-grape blend led by Cabernet Sauvignon, with Merlot alongside. It grows on decomposed granite on the Helderberg slopes, where the vines have to search for water and give small, concentrated berries. The grapes are hand-picked in the cool of the morning and fermented block by block, then aged for sixteen months in three-hundred-litre French barrels. A small share of the Cabernet goes into terracotta amphora, which keeps the fruit in that portion pure and lifted.

The 2024 is young, so open it an hour before dinner and pour it into a decanter or a large jug. After that hour of air it is ready for a grilled sirloin with peppercorn sauce, or beef short ribs braised in red wine. It sits at 14%, a touch lighter than the Vergelegen, and it is the one we would open for a weeknight steak.

Left alone, it will develop for five to eight years from vintage, with the fruit turning more savoury and the cedar settling into a smoother, leathery finish. Our Cabernet Sauvignon page collects the other Cape wines in our range led by the same grape.

A Stellenbosch Pinot Noir for lighter food

The Ernst Gouws Pinot Noir comes from cooler Stellenbosch sites picked out for this grape, again on granite and decomposed-granite soils cooled by False Bay. Pinot Noir is thin-skinned and loses its perfume in too much heat, so those sites matter. The grapes are hand-harvested and handled gently, and the oak adds clove and cinnamon to red cherry and strawberry, with chocolate and tobacco underneath. The tannins are silky.

Open it at a table where a big Cabernet blend would swamp the food. Roast duck with cherry sauce picks up the cherry in the wine, and it works with a board of pâté and terrines or smoked trout with crème fraîche. The producer gives it three to five years from vintage, so the 2020 is one to open over the coming months. Our Cape Pinot Noir page lists the others from the grape that we carry.

Food pairing for Ernst Gouws Pinot Noir, Smoked salmon or trout with crème fraîche Food pairing for Ernst Gouws Pinot Noir, Smoked salmon or trout with crème fraîche

Which one to open first

For a single bottle that shows someone what Stellenbosch red wine tastes like, we would choose the Vergelegen. Its four-grape Bordeaux blend is the style the district built its name on, the critics' scores give a gift recipient something to read about, and it will keep if they would sooner wait.

The Ernie Els makes more sense when the bottle is for a steak tonight and you can give it an hour of air first. Pick the Pinot Noir when the menu is duck or charcuterie, or when someone at the table finds a heavy Cabernet hard going.

Reds from the other Cape districts sit alongside these three in our full red range. If you settle on the Double Red, pour it into a jug an hour before the steak goes in the pan, since the 2024 needs that hour of air at this stage.

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Stellenbosch red wine: the three bottles we would choose

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Which one to open first