Tassenberg Dry Red Blend
£11.49
£15.32 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 11 bottles available
Meet 'Good Old Tassies', South Africa's best-loved red and a genuine national institution. A soft, cherry-and-plum blend built around Cinsault with a touch of Cabernet and Pinot Noir, it's easy-going, fruit-forward and made for everyday drinking. If you've ever wondered what South Africans pour on a Tuesday night, this is it.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
Expert curated
Our Verdict
We stock Tassenberg because no South African wine range is honest without it. This isn't a wine that's trying to win medals, it's a wine that's already won hearts, by the million. What we love is its lack of pretension: soft, fruity, properly drinkable, and priced so you can pour it freely. It's the bottle we recommend to homesick South Africans missing the taste of home, and to UK drinkers who want an everyday red with genuine character and a brilliant backstory. Good Old Tassies, indeed.
Tasting Notes
Pour it and you get that classic ruby glow, bright, inviting, unfussy. The nose leads with fresh red cherry and ripe plum, with just a whisper of something soft and earthy underneath. On the palate it's light-bodied and easy, the cherry and plum carrying through with a juicy, succulent feel. Tannins are gentle, acidity is friendly, and the finish is clean and moreish rather than long. This is wine built for drinking, not contemplation.
Ripe Red Cherry
Fresh, juicy cherry sits at the heart of every sip, the kind of bright red fruit that makes the wine instantly approachable.
Soft Plum Sweetness
Ripe plum rounds out the fruit profile, adding a gentle sweetness and a plush, easy-drinking texture that keeps you pouring.
Light, Supple Body
Cinsaut leads the blend, giving a featherweight feel and silky mouth-coating fruit, no heavy tannins, no fuss.
About This Wine
Some wines need explaining. Tassenberg isn't one of them. Affectionately known as 'Good Old Tassies' across South Africa, this is the bottle that's been on kitchen tables, around braai fires, and behind countless student dinners for generations. It's the biggest-selling red in the country for a reason, honest, friendly, never tries too hard.
The blend leans heavily on Cinsault, with a supporting cast of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir filling in the edges. Expect a bright ruby colour in the glass, soft red cherry and plum on the palate, and a light, easy texture that slips down without fuss. At 12.5% ABV, it's gentle enough for a midweek glass but has enough character to hold its own at the table.
This is what you reach for when you don't want to think too hard. Pour it with a Sunday roast, a mushroom pasta, a midweek shepherd's pie, or a board of cheese and charcuterie. It's brilliant lightly chilled in summer, equally good warming up a winter evening on the sofa.
For South Africans living in the UK, a bottle of Tassies is pure nostalgia, the taste of home, delivered across Britain. Send a case to a homesick expat and you'll be the hero of the week.
Food Pairing
This is midweek wine in the best sense, pour it with a homemade lasagne, a bowl of spaghetti bolognese, or a Friday night pizza and it earns its keep. The light body and gentle tannins also make it surprisingly good with chicken thighs roasted with paprika, or a simple banger-and-mash supper. Lightly chill it for summer braais and burgers.
- —Spaghetti bolognese or a weeknight lasagne
- —Pepperoni pizza or a margherita with extra basil
- —Roast chicken thighs with paprika and lemon
- —Bangers and mash with onion gravy
- —Grilled burgers and boerewors at a summer braai
How to Serve
Temperature
Slightly below room temperature. Twenty minutes in the fridge before opening brings the fruit into focus and stops it feeling flabby.
Decanting
No need to decant, this is an open-and-pour wine, designed for easy drinking. If anything, a quick swirl in the glass is all the air it needs to wake up.
Glass
A standard all-purpose red wine glass is perfect, no need for anything fancy with a wine this welcoming.
The Winemaking
Cinsaut leads here, with a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir filling in the corners, a blend built for easy drinking rather than long ageing. The Cinsaut brings the juicy red-fruit heart and that light, almost silky texture; Cabernet lends a touch of structure and savoury edge; Pinot Noir softens everything into supple drinkability. At 12.5%, it's deliberately gentle in alcohol, which is part of why it slips down so easily on a weeknight.
About the Producer
Stellenbosch Farmers
Stellenbosch Farmers Winery has been a fixture of South African wine since the early twentieth century, and Tassenberg, affectionately known back home as 'Good Old Tassies', is one of its longest-running success stories. This isn't a boutique cellar chasing critics; it's a producer that built its name on making honest, affordable red wine for everyday tables across the country. Generations of South Africans have grown up with a bottle of Tassies on the braai table, at student dinners, at family Sunday lunches. It's the kind of wine that doesn't need to impress, it just needs to be there, doing its job. That's exactly what it does, brilliantly.