TIM JAMES HIGHLIGHTS SAXENBURG’S GUINEA FOWL RED 2021 AS A “RECOMMENDABLE FAVOURITE”
Recently Tim James, a Cape Wine Master as well as one of South Africa’s leading wine commentators, published a piece called, “In search of cheaper red wines”. Amongst being
an award-winning writer, Tim is also a taster and associate editor for the Platter’s wine guide. In the article, Tim explores four “second label” wines produced by prestigious estates and compares them in terms of their taste profile and price point.
He had the following to say about Saxenburgs Guinea Fowl Red 2021: “From grapes off the Polkadraai Hills estate, it’s a genuine second label to Saxenburg’s ever-improving Private Collection Cab, harmoniously augmented by malbec, cab franc and merlot. With a savoury edge and herbal twist to the good fruit, it has some character and intensity, with succulence and a bit of grip, though it’s very approachable now. I can think of a good few much pricier and showier Stellenbosch bordeaux blends that I’d spurn in favour of this.”
Similarly, Saxenburg’s Winemaker has commented that this wine shows beautiful fruit purity, ranging from dark to red berries, aromatic herb notes of thyme and hints of tobacco and mocha. Saxenburg’s 2021 harvest started a bit later due to moderate February temperatures. During this very unpredictable vintage, stringent crop control was done during veraison to ensure even ripening for the Bordeaux cultivars in this blend. These methods paid dividends in the cellar as the resulting wines showed a vibrant natural acidity with the varieties showing beautiful fruit ripeness and dense tannin structures.
The Guinea Fowl Collection is a lifestyle offering from Saxenburg Wine Estate. Carrying Saxenburg’s seal of quality, it is a popular range produced to tantalise the senses and pair well with a range of dishes. We were delighted to see that Tim James referred to the Guinea Fowl Red 2021 as having “splendidly good value” and being his favourite wine amongst the wines he compared.
Reference: By Tim James, 27 February 2023 ‘Tim James: In search of cheaper red wines ‘, Winemag.co.za. Available at: https://winemag.co.za/wine/opinion/tim-james-in-search-ofcheaper- red-wines/