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Damascene, Cabernet Franc Stellenbosch, 2022

Red Wine from South Africa, South Africa
by Damascene
$61.99
Taxes and shipping calculated at checkout.
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Damascene Wines—the project of Jean Smit and David Curl—is one of the most exciting forces in South African wine today. Their focus is on site expression, native fermentation, and minimal intervention, and nowhere is that philosophy more clearly expressed than in their Cabernet Franc from Stellenbosch.

The 2022 vintage is sourced from granite-rich, high-elevation vineyards in the Bottelary Hills and Polkadraai Hills, where cool air and rocky soils shape the wine’s aromatic lift and linear profile. Vinified with partial whole clusters, wild yeasts, and gentle extraction, it’s aged in older French oak to preserve purity.

In the glass, it shows violet, graphite, red currant, and fresh herbs, with a fine-boned structure and mineral finish. There's no greenness, no heaviness—just a poised, transparent expression of the grape, with the kind of balance and texture that recalls top-tier Loire reds or right-bank Bordeaux in a cool year.

It’s a Cabernet Franc that rewards both cellaring and close attention, ideal with herb-roasted lamb, lentil stew, or grilled eggplant with za'atar.

For fans of Raffault, Clos Rougeard, or Arnot-Roberts, this is essential.

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Antonio Galloni

88 points

"The 2022 Cabernet Franc comes from granite soils and matured in 2,000-liter Austrian oak. Black fruit commingles with autumn bonfire and sous-bois, with just a touch of Montecristo cigars. The palate is medium-bodied with edgy tannins and more red than black fruit, laced with cracked black pepper and tobacco towards the finish. Moderate length. Fine, if a few paces off Damascene's Rhône blends." —Neal Martin

Jancis Robinson

16 points

"As with the Syrah, this has great poise – elegant but pure-fruited. Red plums and redcurrants, cherries. Green peppers and dried mint. Good expression of the variety. Juicy finesse on the palate – the fruit coiled around bright acidity and framed by chalky tannins. As with the Swartland Syrah, there’s a touch of austerity on the end, but it will relax with time."

More about

Wine Details

  • Grape Variety

    Cabernet Franc

  • Vintage

    2022

  • Size

    750ml

  • Farming Practice

    Sustainable

  • Sweetness

    Dry

  • Body

    Full Bodied

Flatiron's Take

From the Importer

What Skurnik Wines has to say about this wine:

100% Cabernet FrancSourced from the cooler east-facing slopes of the Bottelary, planted in 2004Decomposed graniteHand harvestedBunches were de-stemmed and gravity-fed into tulip-shaped concrete fermenters, where whole berries were cold-soaked for 3 days before primary fermentation commencedFermented with indigenous yeast, with temperatures peaking at 28CAged for 11 months in 1000-Liter French oak vatsThe wine was racked once prior, two weeks before bottlingBottled unfined

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Tasting Profile