The 2020 Warwick Estate Professor Black-Pitch Black Bordeaux Blend is the best deal we’ve ever seen from South Africa. We were able to secure rock-bottom pricing on a top wine from one of South Africa’s most acclaimed producers. Stellenbosch has a long history of crafting exceptional Bordeaux Blends and they are the signature wine style from the region. Warwick Estate has been a cornerstone of Stellenbosch wine making since the Ratcliffe family took the reins in 1964. The Professor Black series pays homage to the estate's first owner – Professor William Black, who pioneered farming in the region back in 1902. In short, this wine is simply stunning. Beautifully aromatic, there’s blackcurrant, red plum, and a spicy edge here with subtle undertones of baking spice, cedar and cinnamon. And while there’s a touch of Cinsault added to the blend (as is traditional in Stellenbosch)–you’d never know it. Instead this reads like a top-notch, generously fruited Bordeaux from a warm vintage. Full-bodied on the palate, this wine has hits every note perfectly: gorgeous fruit expression on the palate, a slow build of acidity that cracks just before the finish, and a tightly constructed tannin structure that punctuates each sip. Most of the customers I interact with view South Africa as inexpensive, ordinary table wine. They never reach for top-level wines that showcase the incredible quality that is coming out of places like Stellenbosch. But at $19.99, Professor Black gives you both: a chance to try some of the best that South Africa has to offer, but at a price that won’t make you think twice. Make sure you pick up a bottle of this before it’s gone–I don’t think we’re going to see a deal this good for a long time coming.