The Chocolate Block Red Wine Review

Joseph Santiapillai
Jun 9, 2020
1 min read

Updated: May 22

Chocolate Block, 2018, Franschhoek

Syrah Blend

A wine with a very distinctive and recognisable label. The Chocolate Block has built up quite the reputation over the years and has almost a cult following. It is produced by Boekenhoutskloof Winery, one of the most respected wineries in South Africa. The wine is from Franschhoek, a small town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. The 2018 vintage is a blend Syrah (69%); Grenache (13%); Cinsault (9%) Cabernet Sauvignon (8%); and Viognier (1%).

The colour is a deep dark purple. The bouquet is very fragrant, full of blackberries and dark fruit. Then with your first sip, you notice unsurprisingly plenty of dark chocolate flavours (as the name suggests) but also flavours of plum, cherry and tobacco. It is a full-bodied effort with well integrated tannins and a long, dry finish. I drank this over two days and it improved considerably on the second day. So I would certainly recommend decanting it or at the minimum open the bottle for a few hours before drinking.