2014 De Toren The Black Lion
Region: Swartland, Coastal Region, South Africa
Night seven on the Allure of the Seas and this time at we are ordering in for some room service from the specialty restaurants.
Medium ruby red, a bit lighter than expected. Love the layers and complexity on the nose, starting off with some chalk, gamey notes, iron and tons of minerality. Started to open up with some more smokey notes, caramel and tight dark berries. Definitely more on the savory side of Shiraz. Heavy tannins (7.5/10) and full bodied. Tons of structure and balanced acidity. Attack of black olives on the palate with some plums, dried black cherries and raspberries. Got a bit fruitier as it aired with some meaty undertones. Long and dry finish. So much going on with this wine, sadly it was our only bottle.
First time trying this limited bottling Shiraz by De Toren Private Cellars with only 883 bottles produced in the 2014 vintage, this was bottle #10. This wine is made through the use of extreme winemaking techniques similar to the Book XVII such as extreme cropping, extensive hand sorting, 200% new French oak for a total of 18 months and unfiltered. You are probably wondering how it can be 200%? This is done by aging the wine in 100% new French oak barrels for twelve months before transferring them to another set of 100% new French oak barrels for six additional months. Definitely would buy again, release price was R2,250.
2017 till 2042.
Price Point:
$$$$ - Purchased from the estate for $169.77.