Tokara Telos 2016 Bottle size: 750ml

'Sumptuously packaged and ambitiously priced, the 2016 is the second vintage of this ultra- premium Bordeaux blend from Tokara. It marries Cabernet Sauvignon with 5% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc and was aged in 60% new wood. Like the maiden release, it’s a wine that’s gentle and beguiling rather than a palate-assaulting blockbuster, with rose petal, cedarwood and tobacco leaf aromas, sweet raspberry and mulberry fruit, very fine, detailed tannins, subtle wood spice and more acidity than many 2016s. Good now, but will develop further complexity in bottle. 2023-32.' – Tim Atkin MW, 2021 SA Report, 96/100

Kicks off with poised red fruit and spice, next up there is darker fruit laced with some fennel seed and subtle, toasty oak notes. As the wine opens up, its awesome perfume mingles with delicate baking spice, mature tobacco, red fruits, a graphite, gravelly, earthy note and a refreshing citric edge. Complex for sure! The palate is medium- to full-bodied, boasting incredible lift and linear purity of fruit. The clever use of oak contributes to its soft-shouldered sense of luxury and adds to the shy but fine tannin structure. Should age gracefully over the next decade. A wine of ambition and care. – James Pietersen (Nov 2020)

'A wine of great precision and intensity from the first taste to the persistent finish. With evident complexity, exceptional balance and a well-defined structure, this is a wine that will reward patient cellaring while offering endless enjoyment now.' – Tokara

Tasting notes on the 2015 vintage:
'The price may raise a few eyebrows in fine wine circles, but Tokara has a track record of producing very good red wines and this is definitely a world-class wine. Blending mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a little Malbec and Merlot, it’s silky, focused and refined, more Margaux than St Estèphe, with cassis and red cherry fruit and silky tannins. An ambitious début. Drink 2022-35.' – Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2018, 97/100

'A 17 year old single vineyard block making up a 1,000 bottle blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec and 3% Merlot, aged for 22 months in 63% new oak with medium toast and ‘house toast’. 2.1 g/l RS, 6.2 TA, 3.52pH. This young 2015 red blend displays an impressively perfumed nose with subtle potpourri and dried pink flower fragrance, violets and hints of lavender. Dusty graphite and gravelly minerality is tightly interwoven with attractive black berry, dusty bramble berry nuances and subtle fleshly cut hedgerow spice. The palate is sleek, lithe and particularly suave and fine boned with a very polished, sultry, light touch elegance and textural focus. There is already impressive complexity but also a modicum of classical restraint that seems to overtly shy away from elevated ripeness, oakiness or glossy sweet fruit characters. This is a rare South African expression that boasts a vibrant natural acidity and very ripe, fine grained powdery mineral tannins that cushion a beautifully natural sense of balance, harmony and finesse, all elements coming together seamlessly and effortlessly at such an early stage in the wines evolution. A really polished, faultless, old world leaning expression that is undoubtedly a new and impressive tour de force on the South African fine wine scene. Drink this wine from 2020+ onwards and cellar comfortably for over 20+ years.' – Greg Sherwood MW, 97/100

'The nose shows red and black fruit, violets, the vaguest hint of fresh herbs plus attractive and subtle oak spice. The palate is surprisingly medium bodied (for a wine with such a big price tag) and shows beautiful fruit purity to go with silky tannins. It’s lithe and energetic with fantastic refreshment value, and another compelling argument that Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon can be a world-beater.' – Christian Eedes, Winemag.co.za, 95/100

'Very luxurious oak scent; pure vanilla, ripe cherry. Very fine tannins with polish and sculpture and poise. Glossy, well-made structure with evident and impeccable quality control. Doesn’t fall into the trap of overripe fruit, and there is proper persistence. There is a European sensibility here in the savoury finish, but the fruit purity does speak of the New World. Reminds me a lot of Penfolds Bin 389. Perhaps the only criticism is its perfection and sleekness; there are no rough edges, no hidden secrets – yet there is ageability that might unveil more.' – Richard Hemming MW, JancisRobinson.com, 17.5+/20