I bought a case of these in 2017 and this was the last of them. I took it to a local upmarket steakhouse that has a zero corkage on Mondays.
Le Vin De François (South Africa, Stellenbosch/Paarl/Bot River)
François is François Naudé. He was a pharmacist in Pretoria who got the wine bug and moved to the Cape where he worked as an odd-job man. He was building a fireplace at an estate in Stellenbosch for a rich Mauritian man and they got to talking about wine.
François made wine at home and brought bottles to share. The Mauritian decided to plant grapes and make wine on his estate and appointed François to be the viticulturist and winemaker. In time the wines of L'Avenir Estate won many prizes and was recognised as one of the countries top wine estates.
When the Mauritian decided to retire, sell the estate, and go home to Mauritius François also retired. But after two years retirement he was bored and so worked as a consultant to many wineries. He told me that it was great, he didn't have to work at night. If there was an emergency in the winery they'd phone him and he'd tell them what to do and go back to sleep.
Le Vin De François was his own project. He bought superior barrels he'd identified from wineries he consulted at, and blended them. He designed a label, using brown because no other wine had a brown label, and sold them all on one night by auction.
The 2015 was made from 10 barrels from 8 wineries.
The wine is now 10 years old, but feels young. It is sleek and is what I'd imagine being driven in a Rolls Royce is like. Effortless pleasure, and no rough edges. There's a hint of spices, some damson flavours and just harmonious. Gorgeous. Wish I had more.