Medium-bodied, rather than full throttle, this is still a wine of presence and power. It impresses immediately with a mixture of bright red and black summer berries, plenty of charry spice and fantastic length of flavour. The oak is really nicely balanced here - you can taste the vanilla and clove flavours from the barrel, but the richness of fruit balances it out wonderfully. Clean acidity, firm tannins and a bright assertive finish complete the wine - a great drink.

Painted Wolf Wine’s founder and chief vintner Jeremy has three main passions in life: African wild dogs, cycling, and quality South African vino. His winery, based in the beautiful Paarl wine region, tries to combine all three, by operating as a charitable hub for wild dog preservation, by running cycling tours through the surrounding landscape, and - of course - producing top-notch South African wines which are quickly becoming recognised as among the best in the country. Painted Wolf was set up back in 2007 as a small-scale experimental project between Jeremy and his wife, Emma. They wanted the chance to get away from the city and feel more connected with the land they loved so dearly and felt that by trying their hand at winemaking, they’d be able to live the lives they wanted to lead. Naturally, they soon discovered that winemaking isn’t all lazing around in the sun and picking the occasional bunch of grapes, but they took to the hard work like ducks to water, and before long, their minimal intervention methods say plenty of interest coming their way. Their initial batches were mainly shared between family, friends, and the local community, but within a couple of years, Painted Wolf started exporting to the UK and Europe. Impressively, their characterful wines were picked up by South African Airlines as the bottles of choice for their business class passengers, and plenty of awards and accolades came along at the same time. If you’re looking to get a taste of modern Paarl wine, made with sustainability and ecology in mind, then we reckon Painted Wolf is a pretty perfect place to start.