Three Men in a Tub With a Rubber Duck Red Blend
£15.49
£20.65 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 3 bottles available
3.5/5 starsPlatter's South African Wine Guide
87Wine Magazine South Africa
Some wines take themselves seriously. This one would rather pour you a glass and turn the music up. A cheeky Franschhoek blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a whisper of Mourvèdre, it delivers sweet cherry, plum and a peppery, liquorice-laced finish. Brilliant value, genuine charm, and exactly the bottle that gets a midweek dinner talking.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
Our Verdict
We have a soft spot for wines that wear their personality openly, and this one wins us over every time. Strip away the duck and the cheeky name and you've got a properly made Franschhoek blend that punches well above its modest price, with the kind of sweet-fruited, peppery drinkability that empties bottles fast. It's earned solid marks from South African critics, but what we love is how easy it is to recommend: ideal for the curious drinker who doesn't want fuss, and a brilliant low-risk gift. We only get a small allocation, and at this price it never hangs around long.
Tasting Notes
Rich and peppery on the nose, this is a fruit-driven blend that leads with sweet cherry and ripe plum. The palate is the real draw: those dark fruits are wrapped around a savoury thread of black pepper and liquorice, giving it more depth than the easy-going style suggests. Sixteen months in barrel has rounded the tannins to a supple, food-friendly softness, and the finish lingers with a gentle spicy warmth. Generous, balanced and approachable, with just enough structure to keep it interesting.
Sweet Cherry and Plum
Ripe, juicy dark fruit sits at the core, the Cabernet and Merlot giving generous cherry and plummy richness that makes this so easy to drink.
Black Pepper Lift
A peppery edge runs from nose to finish, the Mourvedre adding a savoury spice that keeps the fruit honest and adds real character.
Liquorice Depth
A dark, faintly sweet liquorice note threads through the palate, lending an extra layer that lingers into the long, spicy finish.
About This Wine
Here's a wine that proves serious quality and a sense of humour can share the same bottle. Behind the rubber duck and the in-joke of a name sit Kevin, Jacques and Raymond, the self-styled Rebels of the Vine at Black Elephant Vintners, working out of the pretty French-corner village of Franschhoek. They make wine the way they want to, with good tunes playing and rules treated as optional. The result is far more polished than the playful label lets on.
In the glass it's a fruit-driven, generous red built on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with a small splash of Mourvèdre adding a savoury, spicy lift. Expect sweet cherry and ripe plum up front, then cracked black pepper and a thread of liquorice running through a long, gently spiced finish. It ferments naturally on wild yeasts before sixteen months in barrel, which is where that softened, structured edge comes from. Easy to love now, with no need to wait.
Pour it with a wood-fired pizza, a bowl of rich ragu pasta, or anything cooked over flame on the first warm evening of a British summer. It's also a wonderfully unstuffy gift, the bottle that makes a wine-lover grin before they've even tasted it. Delivered to your door anywhere in the UK, usually within a few days.
Food Pairing
This is a wine built for sociable, flame-kissed food. Pour it alongside a charcoal-grilled sirloin or sausages off a summer barbecue, where the peppery edge meets the char beautifully. It also loves Italian comfort cooking: a rich tomato and beef ragu over pasta, or a properly blistered pepperoni pizza. For something gentler, try a pumpkin risotto with toasted hazelnuts and crispy sage.
- —Charcoal-grilled sirloin steak with peppercorn sauce
- —Barbecued pork sausages and burgers
- —Beef and tomato ragu over pappardelle
- —Pepperoni pizza from a hot oven
- —Pumpkin risotto with toasted hazelnuts and crispy sage
How to Serve
Temperature
Cool room temperature. Pull it from the rack about 30 minutes before pouring so the fruit shows at its best.
Decanting
A 30 to 45 minute decant is plenty. This is an approachable, supple style, so it does not need long, but a little air lifts the peppery aromatics and rounds out the finish.
Glass
A medium to large round-bowled glass gives the ripe cherry and pepper aromas room to gather and open.
Cellaring
Best enjoyed within three to five years. If keeping it, store on its side somewhere cool, dark and stable rather than laying it down long term.
Ageing & Cellaring
This is built for early enjoyment rather than the cellar. It is drinking well now and will hold its fruit-forward charm over the next three to five years. There is no need to wait, though a year or two of rest will see the spicy oak settle further into the plummy fruit.
The Winemaking
Everything here starts with wild yeast. The fruit is left to ferment spontaneously, the way nature intended, which gives the wine a savoury, slightly untamed character you don't get from cultured strains. From there it spends sixteen months in barrel, and that long, patient oak ageing does the heavy lifting: it builds structure, smooths the tannins into something supple, and leaves a gentle spice running through the long finish. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot lead, with a whisper of Mourvèdre adding depth and a peppery lift.
About the Producer
Black Elephant Vintners
Some producers let the wine speak for itself. Black Elephant Vintners lets the label do a bit of shouting too, and once you know the story, you understand why.
This Franschhoek outfit is the work of three friends, Kevin Swart, Jacques Wentzel and Raymond Ndlovu, who pooled their different backgrounds and decided winemaking should be taken seriously without taking itself too seriously. The name is a play on two of those surnames: Swart and Ndlovu become 'black elephant', and Jacques supplies the 'vintner'. It's a small joke that tells you a lot about how this team thinks.
They call themselves the Rebels of the Vine, a loose, collaborative team who work off good music and better instincts as much as convention. That irreverence shows up everywhere, from wine names like 'Three Men in a Tub With a Rubber Duck' to 'The Fox & The Flamingo', but underneath the whimsy is proper, considered winemaking. Fruit comes from vineyard sites scattered across the Franschhoek valley, with cooler parcels from Elgin, on the Cape coast, brought in specifically for their Méthode Cap Classique. That reach across warmer valley floor and cool coastal sites gives them options most single-vineyard producers don't have.
We stock Black Elephant Vintners because South African wine doesn't need to be earnest to be excellent. Alongside the structured, serious reds of Stellenbosch, it's worth remembering the Cape also produces winemakers who want you to smile before you even pull the cork. The wines back up the joke: bright, well-made Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, a savoury red blend with real character, and a Zero Dosage MCC that shows genuine technical skill behind the playful branding.
If you've only ever associated Franschhoek with fine dining and formal tasting rooms, this is the other side of the valley: same quality, same sense of place, considerably more fun in the telling.