This is Wim Truter's third full year in charge of the cellar, and he's doing it the slow way. Every parcel is picked and fermented on its own, so nothing gets lost in the crowd. Malolactic happens in 300 litre French oak barrels, which is unusual and expensive and gives the wine a softer, rounder middle. 8 months in barrel, then he sits down and builds the blend, then another 10 months back in oak to let it knit together. 18 months all in before it's allowed out.

The 2023 ended up 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot. It was a cool, slow ripening year, much like 2021, which is the vintage everyone still talks about. Cool years in Stellenbosch give you a Rubicon with its shirt tucked in, dark fruit and cedar and a bit of pencil shavings, firm enough to need a decent bit of lamb, but with that quiet poise the great ones have rather than anything shouty. Tamlyn Currin called it "understated dignity", which is a better three words than I'd have managed.

Drinking beautifully now if you give it an hour in a decanter, and the estate reckons it'll go to 2045 and beyond. That's the real argument for taking 6. Open one this winter, forget about the rest, and you've got a wine to pull out for every decent occasion for the next 15 years.