2019 Warwick Estate First Lady Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch, South Africa
#1 Selling Cabernet Sauvignon in South Africa Value Brand of the Year 2022 - Wine & Spirits
Tasting Notes
The First Lady is a tribute to Norma Ratcliffe, Warwick founder and a pioneer in the South African wine industry. Our original First Lady, she was (literally) the first lady winemaker to operate commercially in South Africa. Today, our CEO Christiane von Arnim carries the baton for career women everywhere. And by “baton”, we mean another bottle of this delectably juicy cab!
Loads of berry and cherry flavors on the nose, leading into dark chocolate and coco beans. The palate is light and flavorful, cassis, dark berries, and a hint of vanilla and classic Cabernet Sauvignon tannins. Ready to enjoy now, but will reward cellaring over the next two to three years.
Grapes are picked at optimal ripeness and transported to the cellar and de-stemmed into tank. The wines spent between 7 and 14 days on the skins depending on the tannin structure, with three or four pump-overs per day and then pressed to undergo malolactic fermentation in tank.
Food Pairing: Barbecued Pork spare-ribs, grilled rib-eye steak or a tagliatelle with duck ragu.
Specs
Varietal Blend: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Stellenbosch, South Africa
Barrel Regime: 12 months with various types of used oak, none new, before blending and a light filtration and bottling
Alcohol: 13%
RS: 3.8
TA: 5.3
pH: 3.70
Bottling Date: July 2021
What’s Included
6-bottles:
6x 2019 Warwick Estate First Lady Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Case:
12x 2019 Warwick Estate First Lady Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Warwick Estate is a high-end South African winery in the Stellenbosch region of South Africa. It has a rich history dating back to 1771.
We believe in quality without compromise. We believe that there is no single activity which produces greatness, but rather a series of inter-related activities which all have to be performed at the highest level. We believe in making understated classic wine that exudes elegance.
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2019 Warwick Estate Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon - $30 = 21.43%
We’re in Northern Italy this morning, getting ready to go find some pastries and coffee (Americano). Later today, we’ve got an appointment at Quintarelli for a tasting.
OK, the wine…
2019 Warwick Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa.
Bottom line, we did not like this wine. At pop-n-pour, the wine smelled good, but the flavor was disjointed, thin and not enjoyable. The next day, after sitting on the counter corked, it had gone flat. We tasted it and actually poured most of our glasses down the sink.
(I did a more thorough writeup, but can’t seem to copy and paste on my phone. And I hate to pan a Casemates offer, but… I’ll be interested to read what other rats have to say.)
Hi! We are terribly sorry to hear our First Lady 2019 wasn’t quite to your liking.
We would be interested to hear if you opened a second bottle and had the same experience.
In recent years the bouquet of the South African Cab has really caught the worlds attention, usually followed through with a pleasant tasting experience but we fully understand wine is personal and no one wine can please every wine lover.
We’d love to hear a bit more about what you do enjoy! Hope to hear from you soonest.
@WarwickWines I wish I could. I know that there can be bottle variation, and the one we got was so unappealing that I suspect it may have been the case.
I’ll preface this by saying I don’t drink a lot of cabs. I have a few casemates favorites that I always buy from (Laura Michael and Ty Caton) and that’s pretty much it for me on the cab side.
To me this was a nice, mellow fruit forward cab. I primarily tasted fruit and didn’t get any earthy flavors. The tannins were pretty light. It was nice out of the bottle. I meant to decant the second glass but decided not to since I liked the first glass.
I wasn’t going to mention this part but the other lab rat noted it as well. We had about half the bottle on Saturday and then the other half on Sunday. I just preserved it with a wine stopper (this is what I typically do when I plan to finish it the next day). It didn’t hold up great on day two. The nice fruit flavor just wasn’t there. At first, I thought maybe it wasn’t fully sealed but I did everything I normally do for a wine that we intend to finish on day two. Just didn’t hold up well.
@kawichris650@reesai when they say it’s the most popular wine in the wine country I expect the rat reports to be like this. The most popular wine in this country are things like Ménage à Trois.
@kawichris650@reesai@rjquillin I certainly don’t forget. But I also don’t like Inzinerator much and it’s basically the same wine. But your average person off the street prefers that to the good stuff.
Thanks for all the comments and feedback so far. The 2019 vintage yielded the smallest crop in nearly 20 years in South Africa. We had a wetter-than-average growing season, after coming out of the worst drought the Western Cape has seen the previous 5 years. The 2019 First Lady Cab Sauv is definitely a wine to enjoy now, a style of Cab that isn’t too big and bold with robust tannins. It is a more moderate style with good fruit, balanced acidity and to enjoy with food.
@WarwickWines
Welcome and thanks for joining in the discussion. We’re generally curious in what capacity you represent the producer so we better understand the context.
@rjquillin Thanks! I am in the marketing side, but I have been in the wine industry for 16 years, mostly in South Africa. The drought really did a number on yields and careful grape selection were done by many producers. 2019 was no exception, although not technically part of ‘drought years’, only the best grapes made the cut. Although not your typical strong and robust Cab Sauv, the First Lady 2019 did encompass great balance in acidity and fruit.
I bought 12 bottles of this warwick stellenbosh cab. The first two bottles we tried so far had a good start, but then you get surprised with a very unpleasant taste at the end, which some people we were sharing it with said was like metal, other people said was like plastic/glue residue. The bad “late taste” ruined it too much. Nobody at our dinner get-together finished their glass. This was disappointing. I can usually be happy with almost any blend or cab, for instance I thought the cimarron last month was great and would buy it again:
2019 Warwick Estate First Lady Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch, South Africa
#1 Selling Cabernet Sauvignon in South Africa
Value Brand of the Year 2022 - Wine & Spirits
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale online, $204/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Oct 24 - Tuesday, Oct 25
2019 Warwick Estate The First Lady Cabernet Sauvignon
6 bottles for $69.99 $11.67/bottle + $1.33/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $109.99 $9.17/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2019 Warwick Estate Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon - $30 = 21.43%
We’re in Northern Italy this morning, getting ready to go find some pastries and coffee (Americano). Later today, we’ve got an appointment at Quintarelli for a tasting.
OK, the wine…
2019 Warwick Cabernet Sauvignon from South Africa.
Bottom line, we did not like this wine. At pop-n-pour, the wine smelled good, but the flavor was disjointed, thin and not enjoyable. The next day, after sitting on the counter corked, it had gone flat. We tasted it and actually poured most of our glasses down the sink.
(I did a more thorough writeup, but can’t seem to copy and paste on my phone. And I hate to pan a Casemates offer, but… I’ll be interested to read what other rats have to say.)
@FritzCat
Hi! We are terribly sorry to hear our First Lady 2019 wasn’t quite to your liking.
We would be interested to hear if you opened a second bottle and had the same experience.
In recent years the bouquet of the South African Cab has really caught the worlds attention, usually followed through with a pleasant tasting experience but we fully understand wine is personal and no one wine can please every wine lover.
We’d love to hear a bit more about what you do enjoy! Hope to hear from you soonest.
@WarwickWines I wish I could. I know that there can be bottle variation, and the one we got was so unappealing that I suspect it may have been the case.
I’ll preface this by saying I don’t drink a lot of cabs. I have a few casemates favorites that I always buy from (Laura Michael and Ty Caton) and that’s pretty much it for me on the cab side.
To me this was a nice, mellow fruit forward cab. I primarily tasted fruit and didn’t get any earthy flavors. The tannins were pretty light. It was nice out of the bottle. I meant to decant the second glass but decided not to since I liked the first glass.
I wasn’t going to mention this part but the other lab rat noted it as well. We had about half the bottle on Saturday and then the other half on Sunday. I just preserved it with a wine stopper (this is what I typically do when I plan to finish it the next day). It didn’t hold up great on day two. The nice fruit flavor just wasn’t there. At first, I thought maybe it wasn’t fully sealed but I did everything I normally do for a wine that we intend to finish on day two. Just didn’t hold up well.
@reesai
Based on that and the other lab rat’s notes, it sounds like this is a “drink now” wine, and not a wine to forget about in the cellar.
@kawichris650 @reesai when they say it’s the most popular wine in the wine country I expect the rat reports to be like this. The most popular wine in this country are things like Ménage à Trois.
@kawichris650 @klezman @reesai
Which originated with the esteemed Scott Harvey lest we forget
@kawichris650 @reesai @rjquillin I certainly don’t forget. But I also don’t like Inzinerator much and it’s basically the same wine. But your average person off the street prefers that to the good stuff.
@kawichris650 @klezman @reesai @rjquillin
Good stuff is also subjective. Or in the eye of the beholder.
@reesai I like Inzinerator and see the draw of Menage a Trois, but this wine is not that!
@FritzCat @reesai I’m glad the average South African doesn’t like their wines as sweet as the average American!
Thanks for all the comments and feedback so far. The 2019 vintage yielded the smallest crop in nearly 20 years in South Africa. We had a wetter-than-average growing season, after coming out of the worst drought the Western Cape has seen the previous 5 years. The 2019 First Lady Cab Sauv is definitely a wine to enjoy now, a style of Cab that isn’t too big and bold with robust tannins. It is a more moderate style with good fruit, balanced acidity and to enjoy with food.
@WarwickWines
Welcome and thanks for joining in the discussion. We’re generally curious in what capacity you represent the producer so we better understand the context.
@rjquillin Thanks! I am in the marketing side, but I have been in the wine industry for 16 years, mostly in South Africa. The drought really did a number on yields and careful grape selection were done by many producers. 2019 was no exception, although not technically part of ‘drought years’, only the best grapes made the cut. Although not your typical strong and robust Cab Sauv, the First Lady 2019 did encompass great balance in acidity and fruit.
/giphy overcast-lurking-specter
@cleluvswootwine I’m going to give it a try
I bought 12 bottles of this warwick stellenbosh cab. The first two bottles we tried so far had a good start, but then you get surprised with a very unpleasant taste at the end, which some people we were sharing it with said was like metal, other people said was like plastic/glue residue. The bad “late taste” ruined it too much. Nobody at our dinner get-together finished their glass. This was disappointing. I can usually be happy with almost any blend or cab, for instance I thought the cimarron last month was great and would buy it again: