Favorite Thing #13: Rust En Vrede Estate Wine, 2003

Rust En Vrede is located in Stellenbosch, South Africa. If I suddenly become a millionaire (perhaps at Bingo tonight?), I would love to own a home here. Vinyards run right up to the base of mountains that appear out of nowhere. The Rust en Vrede estate was the first in South Africa to specialize in red wines, and has been around since 1694. In the past 30 years, they have only had two winemakers: Kevin Arnold and Louis Strydom. Kevin Arnold is a big name in the South African wine venue, and worked at Rust en Vrede for 10 years. During these 10 years, the Estate wine was made for the first time. the sucess of this blend was responsible for the popular "Cape Blend" trend that blends Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

Some other interesting facts that I pulled off the Rust en Vrede website:

• President Nelson Mandela selected Rust en Vrede to be served at the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize dinner in Oslo, where he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
• In 1994, Rust en Vrede received the South African Export Achievement award from President Mandela.
• During 1996, Rust en Vrede hosted the King and Queen of Denmark at an official lunch in the manor house on the estate.
• The 1998 Rust en Vrede Estate Wine was named the best blended red wine at the World Wine Championships in the United States.
• In 2000, Rust en Vrede became the first South African winery to be named in the prestigious, “Top 100 Wines of the World” by US wine magazine; Wine Spectator. This was followed up in 2001, 2002 and 2003 where the estate again made appearances on the esteemed list. Thus making it four years in succession that this milestone was achieved.
  

They also have an awesome underground cellar where they store all their wines while they bottle age them. It "was the first of its kind for a privately owned South African estate. Designed by renowned architect Mr Gawie Fagan, the perfectly controlled environment is of invaluable benefit to the production and bottle maturation of our unique wines."

Back to the actual wine itself, it is delicious! I tried it at the estate when I was there and balked at the price (R320, the equivalent of 40-45 dollars). The rest of the wine I purchased at various stops was all under $10 a bottle so I was unwilling to pay 4x the amount for one bottle. But, the wine was so delicious that I regreted not buying it for the rest of the trip. I was extremely excited to find it at Thames River Wine and Spirits one night and recently opened it while on our trip to Martha's Vineyard. I was pleased to find out that it was as delicious as I remembered it. It is composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Shiraz, and 10% Merlot and aged for 23 months in new American and French Oak Barrels. The bouquet was not as strong as I expected for a predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon blend, but it did have a subtle hint of berries to me. The palate was wonderfully smooth but still full bodied and very slightly fruity. I think that it would probably age really well, so I'm hoping to go back and buy a bottle to store for a few years (if I can resist drinking it).