With whom would you share your Epicurean wine?

We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink. That is what Epicurean wines stands for.

Epicurean wines comes in a case that is the ultimate unbox therapy. The calligraphy of the beautifully minimalist label was done as an exclusive font by Andrew van der Merwe Calligraphy.

The unwrapping of the bottle from the paper, feels like a sacred moment. An unique pleasure is about to start.

This limited premium brand, only producing 6000 bottles per year, was started by friends who have been together for two decades. Venture capitalist, businessman and one of four partners at Epicurean Wines, Mutle Mogase explained: “We are unveiling our 2012 vintage. It’s an important occasion for us as we only release our wines after they have spent seven years maturing in French oak barrels.”

Epicurean wines, Mogase says, are carefully blended by him and his partners Moss Ngoasheng (Safika Holdings CEO), and Mbhazima Shilowa (former Gauteng Premier). The fourth (silent) partner, Ron Gault, lives in the United States.

Mogase said: “We began Epicurean Wines in 2003 with the release of our maiden vintage. Ours is a luxury premium wine producing a limited 6000 bottles a year of our red blends and 2000 bottles of our Chardonnay. We are at the high end of the market, retailing at around R1000 a bottle for our older vintages and starting from R500 per bottle for our Chardonnay. It’s an important occasion for us as we only release our wines after they have spent seven years maturing” at a time when Epicurean wines feels it’s best for them to be enjoyed, thus cellaring the wines for the client. Our Chardonnay maiden vintage was in 2018, a very well received vintage which is no longer available purchase but we do have our 2019 and current vintage 2020 which a drinking beautifully. We typically release our Chardonnays 2 years after harvest.”

We believe a wine is grown in the vineyard, not made in the cellar. Following this philosophy, we pay particular attention to vineyard practices and selection. At the right time, the fruit is harvested and brought into the cellar. Here, the winemaker plays midwife to the expression of the vintage with minimal interference.

His interest in wine, he says, began when he was a student in Cape Town and became a member of the UCT wine society.

“Before long, I was on the organising committee and later became the society’s chairperson.”

Epicurean Wines Bordeaux style sees a blending of red grapes that include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec.

“A different blending of the same or similar components makes each vintage different in personality and character, but always remains true to the elegant style, complexity and finesse of the fine red Bordeaux style wine,” Mogase said.

He described the tasting notes for the wines saying: “Our wines are balanced, lean & elegant, aromatically harmonious and complex. With the 2013 red there’s a prominence of black berries and dark plums on the nose as the wines is beautifully blended with  Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The wine was matured in has spent 22 months in French Oak barrels. and contains 13.5% alcohol.” We produce a Bordeaux - style blend with components that vary with each vintage, but each vintage exudes the elegance that is expected of a great wine. 

Mogase says the label was named for the Greek philosopher, Epicurus adding, “Epicureans are passionate in their pursuit of pleasure and beauty in all its forms.”

An Epicurus quote appears at the back of all their wine bottles:

 "We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink, for dining alone is leading the life of a lion or a wolf."

epicureanwine.co.za Wines are sold with or without box -the ultimate gift.