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If we could make human beings via decoupage, Bernard le Roux would have been formed from the cuttings of a World Winemakers Hall of fame catalogue.

Bernard has worked under legendary viticulturist Zelma Long (the co-owner of Opus One in Oakville, California), and also spent time under Bo Barrett at the world-renowned Napa estate of Chateau Montelena (one of the famed estates from the “Judgment of Paris”). The list of local greats under which he has worked is quite remarkable as well. Bernard worked under Frans Smit at Spier, was assistant winemaker under Kevin Grant at Hamilton Russell, and also was an understudy to Miles Mossop at Tokara Estate in Stellenbosch.

But there is no guarantee that Human decoupages can make great wine. For that you have to get into the glass, and test it for yourself. Obviously, if you have yet to sign up for your Monthly HanDrinksSolo Wine Subscription then you’ll have to hunt this wine down in your own time. But until then, here are my tasting notes and some technical specs:

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👃🏼 Leather, cassis, smoky oak, hint of vanilla,

👄 Lovely, tightly coiled blackcurrant, with a some juicier black cherry acidity, and maybe even a touch of blueberry. The tannins are firm and chalky. Concentration is good. As the riper fruit fades, the cherry acidity comes back onto centre stage until the curtain comes down. The tail end is a delightful combination of that persistent black cherry juiciness, and some more savoury tobacco leaf. Very-more-ish.

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Wine of Origin Banghoek. Vineyards are planted with a combination of clones CS37B , CS 163 , CS 15, CS 338.  There are also some new plantings of CS338 and CS23, CS46, which are yet to make it into the production setup. Fruit is fermented in six separate parcels, beginning with spontaneous fermentation and switching over to fermentation with a specially selected strain when the ferment reaches between 15 and 10 brix. Wine is heavily racked in order to improve clarity and reduce the need for filtration. Once racking is complete, the wine is matured in a mix of first-fill (22%), 2nd fill, and 3rd fill barrels for 20 months before the parcels are blended and rested in bottle for a further two months.