Syrah (Stellenbosch)

IN THE VINEYARDS

Both vineyards that produce this exceptional Syrah are planted on soils derived from granite. The older of the two vineyards (now 30 years old) is rooted in a particularly rocky variety of decomposed granite known locally as “Koffie Klip”. The second is on a chunky less decomposed granite. This imparts an elegant and refined character to the wine while the temperate Summers of Stellenbosch allow the grapes to ripen slowly and evenly.  The Winter of 2020 brought plentiful rains and as such irrigation was available in most areas in the growing season of 2021 harvest. During October bud break was even and strong and as temperatures begin to rise in November, there was vigorous growth of canopies. The moderate daytime conditions (and especially nights!) of December and January meant that our earlier varieties ripened with lovely acidity and great freshness, all at lower alcohol levels.

IN THE CELLAR

Grapes were picked by hand in the cool of the morning and then hand sorted with particular focus on excluding any raisins or berries which had seen too much sun so that the natural purity of the fruit could be highlighted. From there the grapes were destemmed and lightly crushed and left to “cold soak” for three days at low temperatures. A small portion (30%) of the fruit was fermented as whole bunches in an open top fermenter. This process highlights the spiciness of the variety and brings delicate floral aromas to the final blend. Natural fermentation with no addition of yeast and a submerged cap method was employed so that the wine expresses the site and the vintage instead of having predetermined set aromas and flavours. The wine was pressed soon after the fermentation was completed and transferred to barrel where malolactic fermentation took place. Barrel matured for about 18 months, then assembled into one tank, which was settled in our cold cellar for almost 2 months before bottling.