Syrah

A great example of what this cultivar is capable of in Stellenbosch. A fragrant fresh bouquet with lively fruits and hints of pepper. This wine is full-bodied with great depth balanced by an elegant velvety finish. The intense but finer tannins lend itself to a variety of meat-based dishes. This wine has great drinking capability at release but could benefit from careful cellaring for up to 10 years.

The grapes for this wine were sourced from 2 different areas within Stellenbosch – namely the Helderberg mountain and Faure, a region close to False Bay. The Spring of 2020 was marked by frequent cold fronts, delaying bud burst by 5-7 days. Temperatures remained moderate during the summer, resulting in a two-week delay in the start of the harvest compared to preceding vintages. The viticultural and winemaking team had to wait patiently for the grapes to reach phenolic ripeness. The prolonged ripening meant the grapes had an intense concentration of flavours at harvest time, promising great wines with excellent aging potential.

Grapes were hand harvested early in the morning, de-stemmed and sorted before being transferred to stainless steel tank for fermentation. The 2021 vintage is a continuation of many years of experimentation to facilitate a style shift from a wine labelled as Shiraz, to Syrah. This was achieved by incorporating wholebunch fermentation or addition of ripe stems in to the ferments on certain vineyards and a move away from heavily toasted new oak. 65% new French oak is used, with the remaining 35% made up of 2nd and 3rd fill barrelsThe superb structure was achieved through a combination of open and closed pump overs and careful monitoring to ensure a balanced wine.