Aloe Tree Shiraz
£11.49
£15.32 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 6 bottles available
Swartland Shiraz with all the swagger you'd hope for and none of the heaviness. Dark berries, a flick of white pepper, soft tannins that make it instantly drinkable, this is a midweek-friendly red that punches well above its price tag. A brilliant introduction to South Africa's West Coast for under twelve quid.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
Our Verdict
We listed Aloe Tree Shiraz because it does something rare at this price: it tastes properly of the Swartland. Most sub-£12 Shiraz from anywhere in the world ends up either jammy or hollow, this one is neither. There's real pepper, real fruit weight, and a honest savoury edge that gives it character beyond its price tag. It's the bottle we recommend when someone asks for a reliable midweek red with a bit of personality, or wants a low-risk first taste of West Coast South African wine. A genuine everyday pleasure, and one of the best-value Shirazes on our shelves.
Tasting Notes
The nose leads with dark berry fruit, blackberry, ripe plum, a touch of black cherry, set against a quiet undercurrent of cracked white pepper that's classic Swartland Shiraz. The palate is full and supple, with that ripe West Coast fruit fleshing out a mid-weight frame. Tannins are soft and rounded rather than grippy, which makes it immediately drinkable. The finish carries the pepper through, leaving a savoury, peppery lift that stops the fruit feeling sweet.
Dark Berry Core
Blackberry and ripe plum sit at the centre, with darker black cherry adding depth. Generous fruit without tipping into jammy territory.
White Pepper Lift
A signature peppery edge runs through the finish, giving the wine a savoury counterpoint that keeps the ripe fruit feeling fresh.
Supple Tannins
Soft, rounded tannins make this approachable from the first sip, structured enough for food, gentle enough to drink on its own.
About This Wine
Here's a wine that quietly proves why the Swartland has become South Africa's most exciting Shiraz country. Hot days and cool Atlantic nights stretch out the growing season along the Cape's West Coast, and you can taste it in the glass, ripe blackberry, dark cherry and crushed plum, lifted by that telltale Swartland flick of white pepper on the finish.
The vines sit on Karoo clay soils, deep and water-retentive, the kind of ground that adds real body and texture without weighing the wine down. A short rest in French oak, three months, just enough, softens the edges and adds a whisper of warmth, but the focus stays firmly on the fruit. The tannins are supple, the structure is honest, and the whole thing slides down with the kind of easy generosity that makes you reach for a second glass before you've thought about it.
Pour this with a Sunday roast, a bowl of slow-cooked beef ragu, or a midweek shepherd's pie. It's also genuinely brilliant with anything off the barbecue, sticky pork ribs, a charred lamb chop, or just a properly seasoned burger. Sending a bottle to a South African friend in the UK who misses the smell of a Cape braai? You've found the right one.
Delivered to your door anywhere in the UK, usually within a couple of working days.
Food Pairing
This is a midweek hero. The soft tannins and peppery edge make it a natural match for chargrilled lamb chops with rosemary, or a Tuesday-night sausage and mash with onion gravy. It's also brilliant alongside slow-cooked beef stews, peppered steak, or a sticky barbecue rack of ribs once summer arrives. Aged Cheddar or a wedge of mature Gouda finishes things nicely.
- —Chargrilled lamb chops with rosemary and garlic
- —Pork sausages with creamy mash and onion gravy
- —Slow-cooked beef and red wine stew
- —Sticky barbecue pork ribs
- —Mature Cheddar with chutney
How to Serve
Temperature
Cool room temperature. If it's been on a warm kitchen counter, twenty minutes in the fridge will sharpen it nicely.
Decanting
No decanting needed. A quick swirl in the glass is enough to release the dark fruit and pepper. If you've got time, half an hour in a jug after opening will round things out further.
Glass
A standard large red wine glass with a generous bowl gives the dark fruit and peppery aromatics space to lift.
Ageing & Cellaring
Built for drinking now rather than the cellar. With only three months in oak and soft, supple tannins, this is at its best in the near term, open it over the next couple of years to enjoy that ripe fruit at full volume.
The Land
The vines sit on Karoo clay soils, deep, water-retentive earth that gives the wine its body and texture. Clay ripens vines more slowly than the area's sandier patches, building structure and weight into the fruit. Add cool Atlantic nights and a long, breezy growing season, and you have the conditions for ripe Shiraz that still keeps its savoury backbone.
The Winemaking
A gentle pressing keeps things clean from the start, only the free-run juice makes the cut, leaving behind anything harsher. Fermentation runs cool, between 18 and 22 degrees, with the cap pumped over three times a day to draw out colour and dark fruit depth without bullying the tannins. From there it spends three months on French oak, just enough to round out the body and add a whisper of spice without ever masking the Shiraz itself. Restraint, in other words, where it counts.
The Swartland Region
Swartland, 'the black land' in Afrikaans, named for the renosterbos that darkens after rain, rolls out north of Cape Town across the hills around Malmesbury and Riebeek-Kasteel. It's hot, dry, and stubbornly characterful: a place of old bush vines, granite and koffieklip soils, and a community of growers who've made it the most quietly thrilling corner of South African wine. Concentration, freshness, and a wild streak you don't find elsewhere, that's Swartland in a glass.
About the Producer
Aloe Tree
Aloe Tree takes its name and its identity from the spiky, sculptural trees that punctuate the Cape landscape, instantly recognisable to anyone who has driven the back roads of the Western Cape. It's a fitting emblem for a producer whose whole approach revolves around working in step with the surrounding biodiversity, the famous Cape Floral Kingdom that makes this corner of South Africa one of the most botanically rich places on earth. The fruit comes from vines between roughly ten and twenty-five years old, planted on Karoo clay soils that add a touch of body to the wines. The brief is simple and refreshingly honest: well-made, affordable, varietally pure wines that don't try to be anything they're not.