There’s an oft-forgotten adage, “All grapes wish they could be wine, while all wines wish they could be a Port” – and the “King” of this style is doubtlessly Vintage. A “Vintage” Port is only released in the finest of years and is a wine deservedly demanding, decades of bottle maturation to showcase its true craftsmanship and full potential. However, in this instant gratification age, few other than the truest of wine connoisseurs has the appetite to age these wines for the required time – indeed a sad situation. However, a finely crafted Tawny allows those amongst us who don’t have the luxury of time, capacious cellars or patience, an opportunity to experience a “matured” fortified which has been imbued by the magic of time, craftmanship & an unhurried journey in cask.

The glistening golden mahogany elixir that is a fine Tawny, greets a taster with a heady melange of warming spice ‘n oak, brandied raisin ‘n fruits, butterscotch Brulé & the tell-tale “nuttiness”; while the palate confirms all this and more, with a reassuring tug of tannin and sweet, but not too sweet, restorative finish. There are few wine moments more enjoyable than sipping a chilled Tawny after a long day or as part of a fine meal. Due to the sheer amount of time, funds & stocks required to allow the alchemy of time and Nature to transform an once obsidian liquid into a shimmering coppery golden wine; very few producers outside of the Douro even attempt to craft this style of fortified. Thankfully for wine lovers at the Cape, an illustrious history of crafting fine cask matured fortifieds exists & to this day, a scant few diehard producers persist with the legacy. Among these, Boplaas Family Vineyards and their winemaker, Margaux Nel.

Nestled in the picturesque Klein Karoo hamlet of Calitzdorp & fortuitously put upon the path of crafting fine fortifieds and table wines from Portuguese varieties by patriarch Danie Nel’s mistaken planting of Tinta Barocca, the Nel’s of Boplaas have an enviable reputation of being amongst the finest producers of “Port”-styled fortifieds in the Cape and outside of the Douro.

The current, father & daughter winemaking team of Carel and Margaux Nel, are not only obsessed with refining the art of crafting fine fortifieds according to traditional methods from Portuguese grape varieties but the crafting of fine Tawnies. To this end, Boplaas is the only local producer, who regularly releases a Colheita or Single Harvest Tawny – a style of Tawny eschewing the normal practice of meticulously blending different barrels from a range of different vintages to create a harmonious blend, but rather allowing a single vintage to battle the ravages of time to emerge as the ultimate interpretation of this style & the vintage which created this wine. Colheita Tawny’s are therefore exceedingly rare, with Boplaas only previously releasing a 1980, 1995 & 1997 to be followed by the upcoming release of the truly incredible 2005 of which only 3000 bottles exist.

Of the seventeen or so recognized styles of “Port”, Boplaas Family Vineyards release a Cape
Ruby, Cape Vintage, Cape Vintage Reserve, Cape Tawny N/V (non-vintage blend), Colheita

Cape Tawny and ever so occasionally a Cape White & Late-Bottled Vintage. The most
familiar of these wines is the bright garnet coloured Boplaas Cape Ruby – a blend of young
“Port” matured for a year to two years in cask and bottled early to capture the buxom ripe fruit
‘n spice of the Portuguese varieties utilized in its crafting while & best enjoyed young.

Astep-up in concentration, “seriousness”, quality & enjoyment is the Boplaas Cape Vintage – a
wine crafted from a single harvest, matured a year in cask & wine with more spice, intense
fruit and tannin allowing one to cellar this wine a decade or more to gain complexity,
although upon release it can be enjoyed with very little effort. Crafted from a selection of
barrels and vintages, with the youngest wines being six years of age, the Boplaas Cape Tawny
with its coppery-golden colour, brandied raisin, caramel ‘n toffee, walnut & oak spice
flavours hit all the right notes. Crafted from a rigorously callous barrel selection to identify
the finest wines of the vintage, blended and destined for decades of bottle maturation as
the finest example of this style should, a Boplaas Cape Vintage Reserve is a rarity to be treasured
and enjoyed when the occasion arises.