Swartland Limited Release Carignan

Here's a grape that flies under the radar, and finding it feels like a small victory. Carignan thrives in the warm, dry Swartland, where Mediterranean varieties come into their own, and this single-vineyard example shows exactly why winemakers are giving it a second look. You'll be pouring something most people have never tried, and that's half the fun. In the glass, expect dried cranberry and raspberry leading the way, with liquorice and a whisper of baking spice adding warmth and intrigue. The palate is rich and smooth, the tannins soft enough to drink now but with just enough structure to keep things interesting. There's a flicker of graphite on the finish that lingers longer than the modest price tag suggests. The vines grow in decomposed granite soils, cooled by Atlantic breezes that sweep across the hills around Malmesbury. That balance of heat and freshness is the Swartland's signature, and it gives this wine its generous fruit and savoury edge. This is your weeknight hero. Pour it with slow-cooked lamb, a hearty beef stew, or a plate of meatballs in rich tomato sauce. It loves aged Manchego and mature Cheddar too. We deliver across the UK, usually within a few days, so a genuinely interesting red is never far from your table.

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.