The 1980 Meerlust Rubicon gave wine drinkers their first high-profile red Bordeaux blend, effectively launching a category that, over time, has come to dominate the premium end of the red wine business. Sure, there are the exceptions — Kanonkop Black Label Pinotage, La Motte’s Hanneli R, Waterford’s The Jem — that trade in reasonable quantities at more stratospheric price points. However, among successful ultra-premium reds, Bordeaux blends, many predominantly cabernet sauvignon-based, own the space. Some, like Meerlust Rubicon, achieve that perfect nexus of premium pricing and large volumes. Others, such as Vergelegen V and Mvemve Raats De Compostella, have been selling consistently above the R1,000 a bottle mark (or this equivalent) for at least 10 vintages. This doesn’t mean all the other red wine categories are doomed to languish in a twilight zone: Rust en Vrede has a number of ultra-premium reds in which shiraz is a component; the Mullineux single-site syrahs sell out within d...

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