The Liberator "New Blood and Chocolate" 2020 (CAN 250ml)

Get to know: The Liberator "New Blood and Chocolate" 2020 - 250ml Can

Tasting Note

The title for Episode 22 ‘Blood and Chocolate’, was inspired by Costello’s 1986 album. It’s an album bursting with anger, full of frustration and resentment, delivered with passion. His songs are about obsessive love and infidelity; nowhere more potently than in the track I want You.

This is the second release of Blood & Chocolate and comes from a 2020 vintage parcel that Rick discovered in 2021 sourced from Glen Carlou at Nederburg in Paarl. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz delivering aromas of blackcurrant, black cherry, pepper and plum. Once poured from the can and given a bit of time to open up in the glass this is medium bodied and expressive with bold fruit on the palate giving the same flavour as the nose with a little fig. The finish is soft and mellow and there's a bit of a Southern Rhone style about it with a bit more oomph.

Try this with some grilled meats.

Producer Info

The Liberator is the project of Master of Wine, Richard Kelley.

Over the past 25 years, Richard has become one of the most respected authorities on South African wine in the UK and beyond. Between 1995 and 2002, he lived and worked in the Cape, witnessing the renaissance of the post-apartheid wine industry. Throughout this fruitful period, he established a healthy rapport with the great and the good of the local wine scene, affording him access to their distinguished cellars.

On his regular jaunts around the Cape, he's often confounded by the number of great wines that are resigned to a tragic fate of being blended away or disposed of in bulk. It might be an occasional experimental batch, or possibly an interesting off-cut from some proud winemaker’s latest premium release. Whatever their provenance, it’s his mission as The Liberator to procure these precious vinous orphans and consign them to a better home.

Inevitably, each wine discovered by The Liberator comes with its own story; a tale of its untimely existence. You’ll find that every release has its testimony recounted, in bottle and on screen, as a unique and evocative Episode.

Expect the unexpected …

The Liberator doesn’t adhere to any standard formula for selecting wines. There is no set style or quantity. No fixed price point. Rest assured that whatever the wine it’s received Rick’s own seal of approval.