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Goedverwacht, Great Expectations Crane Red, Merlot, Robertson, 2019

From a vineyard with a high clay content which suits Merlot. It’s always made in a slightly old-fashioned style, gutsy and lightly smokey, with oaky flavours coming from the suspension of staves in the tank for seven months. But this vintage is fresher and more lifted than in the past, without losing its heartiness and generous plum fruit with hints of coffee and spice. Now-2022

Goedverwacht translates from Afrikaans as good hope – or great expectations, hence the labelling. The du Toit family farm no less than 172 hectares of vines along the bends of the Breede river near Bonnievale. The wines are made by father Jan in collaboration with son Gawie.  Jan once firmly told me his place in the world of wine in South Africa - "I farm for money, not with money" – distinguishing himself from all the supermarket owners, luxury goods merchants, bankers, jewellers or golfers who have bought wine estates in the Cape. Here there are indisputable economies of scale and modern practice, for example careful matching of variety to soil type and harvesting in the cool of the night and early morning. All three wines below benefit from a little oak influence.

The birds on the labels are blue cranes. Antropoides Paradisea is the national bird of South Africa, once commonly sighted in the Breede River Valley but now an endangered species.