When roughly translated from Afrikaans, mal bek refers to someone with a ‘bad’ or ‘crazy mouth’. It’s not meant or used as a derogative term. One would use it with affection to describe someone suffering from ‘verbal diarrhoea’. The reference to ‘all the wounded creatures’ was lifted from an interview with Roger Waters, the man responsible for the lyrics on ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, the 1973 Pink Floyd album, which had madness as its core theme.
Pour it out into the glass and you'll be met by ripe black fruit aromas of blackberry, plum, blueberry, a little prune and a hint of herbal eucalyptus and smoke. The palate is ripe and bold with medium-to full body. It finishes fresh and fruity with a little food-friendly tannin grip and a herbal note.
Rick says, ‘If you’ve invested in a can of this particular wounded creature, sit back, pour a large glass, grab that old vinyl copy of ‘Dark Side’ and switch off the lights…’
Try this with some grilled meats.
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.
The label illustration sets off on a different tangent for Liberator design. It is a small extract from a series of very personal drawings. Full of protest, they are created at night when madness is permitted to rule and takeover. The images are never commissioned, but just manifest on the paper by themselves, acting as a form of therapy and meditation for our anonymous artist.
South Africa, Paarl
Malbec
14.50%
Beef
Medium Bodied
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