South African Wines
Bottle of Roodeberg Black, a red, from Western Cape, South Africa

Roodeberg Black

£13.49

£17.99 per litre · incl. 20% VAT

Out of Stock

Roodeberg Black is the bolder, Cabernet-led sibling of KWV's most famous red blend. Think blackcurrant, cigar box, and a warm sweep of oak spice, wrapped in silky tannins that make it feel more expensive than it is. A serious Cape red for Sunday roasts, fireside pours, and anyone who likes their Cabernet with proper backbone.

Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.

Region
Western Cape, South Africa
Grape
Cabernet Sauvignon
Oak
The palate is complemented by a soft mouthfeel and silky tannins wrapped around hints of blueberry, oak spices and caramelised sweet flavours resonating from the charred cigar notes. The wine was matured in new French oak barrels, for 18 months
Drinking Window
Style inference from grape, oak regime and structure
UK wide delivery
Expert curated
Sourced direct

Our Verdict

We rate Roodeberg Black as one of the smartest buys in our KWV range. It's easy to overlook a wine this widely known, but taste it blind against Cabernets at fifteen or twenty pounds and you'll understand why we keep restocking it. The 18 months in new French oak gives it a polish you rarely see at this price, and that cigar-box, cassis backbone makes it a proper meat-and-fire wine. Perfect for anyone building a weeknight cellar of serious Cape reds without spending serious money. Stock has been tight lately, so grab a few while it's here.

Tasting Notes

Cabernet Sauvignon leads from the first sniff: blackcurrant and cassis, dark plum, and that unmistakable cigar-box lift from new French oak. Give it a swirl and raspberry and mulberry come through, with a whisper of dark chocolate underneath. The palate is where it really settles in, soft-textured but structured, silky tannins carrying blueberry, sweet oak spice and a caramelised char that lingers on a long, savoury finish.

About This Wine

There's a reason Roodeberg has been carrying the KWV name around the world for more than seven decades. Roodeberg Black is the range at its most confident: a Cabernet Sauvignon-driven Western Cape red that takes everything you love about the classic Cape blend and turns the volume up. Dark, structured, and unapologetically generous, this is a wine that arrives with real presence. Expect a rush of blackcurrant and cassis on the nose, layered with cigar box, sweet spice, and the kind of charred, smoky note that only comes from serious oak. Eighteen months in new French oak barrels gives it a silky, polished mouthfeel, with blueberry fruit, oak spice, and a caramelised sweetness rolling into a long, savoury finish. The tannins are firm but never rough, which is why this drinks so well now but has plenty of years ahead of it. Pour it alongside a slow-roasted leg of lamb, a proper Sunday rib of beef, or anything off the barbecue when the British summer finally shows up. It's just as happy with a mature Cheddar and a fire in the grate on a cold evening. Sending a bottle to a South African expat missing home? Roodeberg is one of those labels that instantly says Cape, and we deliver across the UK, usually within 2-3 working days.

Food Pairing

This is a wine built for red meat and open flames. Think a Sunday roast beef with all the trimmings, lamb chops off the barbecue, or a peppered ribeye with chips. The oak spice and dark fruit also flatter richer poultry (a proper coq au vin, say) and mature hard cheeses. A fireside glass with a bit of aged Cheddar works beautifully too.

  • —Sunday roast beef with Yorkshire puddings
  • —Barbecued lamb chops with rosemary and garlic
  • —Peppered ribeye steak and chips
  • —Coq au vin or a rich chicken casserole
  • —Mature Cheddar with quince paste

How to Serve

Decanting

Worth an hour in a decanter, especially if you're drinking it young. Air softens the oak grip and coaxes out the blueberry and cigar-box notes; without it the wine can feel slightly closed on opening.

Ageing & Cellaring

Drinking well on release thanks to that silky texture, but there's enough tannin and dark-fruit concentration here to reward patience. Cellar for five to seven years and expect the primary blackcurrant to soften into leather, cedar and dried plum, with the oak fully integrated.

The Winemaking

Eighteen months in new French oak barrels is a serious commitment, and you can taste every month of it. That extended time in fresh wood is what builds those signature charred cigar-box notes and the caramelised sweet edge that runs through the finish, while the oak spice weaves itself into the dark fruit rather than sitting on top of it. The Cabernet Sauvignon backbone brings the structure; the barrel work polishes it, softening the tannins into something silky without losing any of the wine's presence.

The Western Cape Region

Le Domaine draws its fruit from vineyards scattered across the Western Cape, from coastal sites cooled by Atlantic breezes to warmer inland slopes, all planted between 50 and 300 metres above sea level. This broad sourcing is deliberate. By blending components from different microclimates, the cellar builds a consistent house style that balances the crisp acidity of cooler sites with the ripe generosity of warmer ones. It's the Western Cape's extraordinary diversity captured in a single glass.

About the Producer

KWV

KWV isn't just a producer, it's practically an institution. Head to Paarl in the Cape Winelands and you'll find one of the largest wine cellar complexes on earth, sprawling across more than 22 hectares. That scale tells you something about the role this co-operative has played in shaping South African wine as we know it.

Founded in 1918 to bring order and quality to a fragmented industry of independent farmers, KWV spent much of the twentieth century as the organising force behind South African wine. Quotas, pricing, export rules; for decades, if you were a Cape wine farmer, KWV touched your business in some way. It's a history unlike almost any other wine producer in the world, and it explains why the name still carries real weight in Paarl and beyond.

Today KWV has evolved into a producer in its own right, making wines, brandies and spirits from that historic Paarl base, drawing on fruit sourced across the Western Cape. What we love about KWV is the reliability. The Classic range covers the varietals UK drinkers already know and enjoy, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Merlot, Pinotage, Shiraz, made accessible and consistent without cutting corners. These are honest, well-made wines for everyday drinking, the kind you can pour on a Tuesday without a second thought.

Then there's Roodeberg, KWV's most storied wine. First released in 1949, it became something of a Cape institution itself, a red blend so sought after in South Africa that it was once rationed among loyal customers. That's the sort of detail that tells you a wine has earned its reputation the old-fashioned way, through generations of drinkers rather than marketing.

We stock KWV because it offers UK customers two things at once: a genuine piece of South African wine history, and wines that are simply good value, easy to enjoy, and true to their place. Whether you're new to South African wine or you grew up with a bottle of Roodeberg on the family table, there's something here worth exploring. Every bottle carries Wine of Origin Western Cape certification, a straightforward guarantee of where it's really from.

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