High scores across all three tiers of Cabernet Sauvignon as well as the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon-driven blend, are testament to Tokara’s single-minded focus on this signature grape variety spanning over 20 years.
Top achiever in Atkin’s report this year is the TELOS 2017 on 97/100, the third vintage of Tokara’s pinnacle Cabernet Sauvignon. Due for release in 2023, this masterly crafted wine is the epitome of precision and stands proudly alongside the best in the world.
"There is no denying the complexity or sheer class of this cuvée," is how Atkin describes the TELOS 2017, from a vintage he considers one of the best ever Cape harvests. His tasting notes rate the wine as remarkable, having wonderful depth and granite focus.
Completing Tokara’s lauded Cabernet Sauvignon trio are the 2019 Tokara Reserve Collection, and the farm’s premium Cabernet Sauvignon, scoring 93 and 91 points respectively. "Sappy, dense and perfumed" versus "racy, perfumed and refined" is how Atkin differentiates these two wines.
Both Tokara’s flagship 2019 red and white wines, the Director’s Reserve Red and the Director’s Reserve White, achieved scores of 94 points.
"A wine that could hold up its head in a tasting of top white Bordeaux from Pessac-Léognan," is Atkin’s take on the Director’s Reserve White, while describing the equally impressive Director’s Reserve Red as a fine, floral, assertively wooded Bordeaux blend with well-judged tannins.
Other Atkin favourites on 93 points are the ultra-elegant Tokara Blanc de Blancs Cap Classique 2014 and the Reserve Collection Syrah 2018.
"Always a Blanc de Blancs, with the base wine fermented in older wood, it’s a stylish, bone-dry bubbly that’s still youthful for an eight-year-old fizz," are his notes on the Tokara Cap Classique.
More standout white wines are the Tokara Reserve Collection Elgin Sauvignon Blanc 2021 as well as both the 2020 and 2021 vintages of the Reserve Collection Chardonnay, all on 92 points.
A known fan of Tokara’s Elgin Sauvignon Blanc, Atkin reflects on the 2021 vintage as "engagingly perfumed" describing it as "stony and flinty with subtle struck match reduction, oyster shell and pink grapefruit" in his tasting notes.
Atkin is a UK Master of Wine and accomplished wine commentator with extensive experience when it comes to South Africa. His annual South Africa Special Report, now in its 10th year, is highly regarded internationally as an independent assessment of the country’s wines.
The forward thinking vision of owners GT and Anne-Marie Ferreira to produce world class Tokara wines without compromise and with a distinct South African identity, is the foundation on which this prestigious Stellenbosch property builds its prowess vintage after vintage.
For more information on TOKARA wines, visit www.tokara.com.