"There’s a palpable energy and dynamism in everything the Cloof people do, and a desire to connect with ‘lifestyle’ consumers (as opposed to ‘serious’ consumers) that is arguably unsurpassed elsewhere in the winelands. For example, searching the web site for technical information about the wines featured below, I discovered they’ve created a Cloof group on Facebook (if you have to ask …) and laughed out loud at the names of bands they suggested could be playing at their annual ‘Rocking the Daisies’ music festival. Punctured Papsak, The Boom Town Vats, The Grapeful Dead, Elton Demijohn and Phyll Oxera and the Roots were some of the funnier ones.

"But is this all window-dressing intended to take our eye off the wine quality ball? Not at all, Cloof’s wines have always been well made, if not always to everyone’s taste. The property’s ‘trademark bold-flavoured richness’ (their phrasing) is sometimes a little OTT for, dare I say it, ‘classic’ palates. The three new releases – two of them maidens, Inkspot and The Dark Side – certainly are intense and concentrated wines.

"The Inkspot Vin Noir (named for its dark colour) is 78% pinotage, 12% shiraz and 10% old vine (1966) cinsaut; 30% of the cinsaut juice was drained off prior to fermentation for rosé. Colour wise, it lives up to its name, followed by a creamy strawberry nose and palate, with piercing whiffs of iodine. Fruit- and alcohol-sweet, with just a gentle tug of oak tannins (only 12% of the wine spent a year in small French oak), it makes a decent quaffer although certainly needs a hearty meal to mop up the noticeable 14.8% alcohol. ‘You’ve got to enjoy pinotage in this style,’ says AL [Angela Lloyd].

The Dark Side Cabernet/Shiraz (billed as ‘a wine with curves where others don’t have places’) is less refreshing, harder work. From cabernet plus 11% shiraz, partially wood fermented and partially oak matured for a year in French barrels, it has lovely liquorice and mint notes with an intense ripe fruit, almost raisin character That’s the ‘light’ side; the ‘dark’ side includes hard tannins and a very dense, almost soupy texture. That said, we’ve tasted wines in a similar vein before and they – unlike this one – had delusions of grandeur judging by their prices. The Dark Side’s tag is fairly modest.

"The Bordeaux-style Cloof Lynchpin, from bush vines on relatively cooler east-facing slopes in Darling, is far dearer, and rightly so. Mainly merlot, with 25% cabernet franc and 4% cabernet sauvignon, it is matured for 14 months in predominantly new French oak. While the two maidens are decidedly fruity, this is more floral and herbal. It is also decently balanced and integrated, has fine long tannins and a persistent, plush fruit farewell. This is the only wine in the line-up we’d cellar, expecting 3-6 years to lend complexity and a greater sense of completeness. – Cathy van Zyl

Reproduced with permission from South Africa's independent wine viewpoint, www.grape.co.za