Tasting Notes
Deep scarlet-red colour is accompanied by a full-bodied and well-structured wine. Opulent, dark-blackberry-fruit. A hint of violets and a pinch of white pepper on the finish, which lingers on forever. The use of older oak barrels really helps to put the expression of the fruit firmly to the forefront of this wine. Bold, fruity and structured while remaining well-balanced. Earthy and true to itself.
This wine has supple, though firm, tannins and is definitely best enjoyed with food. Read meats, stews and stinky-cheeses will do the wine most justice. Full-bodied and structured, this Syrah offers superb balance and will be a hit with any meal!
Technical Analysis
Alcohol: 14 Residual Sugar: 1.98g/l Total Acidity: 5.56g/l pH: 3.51 Production: 5,200 bottles (750ml)
Harvested: By hand 25th February 2020 Ageing potential: 5-7 years
Harvest Report
The 2019 wine-making campaign resulted in excellent quality grapes being delivered to the cellar, but not all was plain-sailing!
The harvest started slightly later than the previous vintage, though finished earlier! As a result, a number of the different varieties ripened at around the same time, meaning processing everything within a shorter period of time, was quite challenging.
Following 3 years of drought conditions in The Western Cape, the 2018/19 growing season saw rainfall return to average levels, with a cool, wet spring, followed by a windy, warm summer though no real heat-waves to speak of. Budding and flowering were a little uneven across the board, which resulted in quite a bit of crop-dropping around Christmas time, during Veraison (when the grapes change colour from green to yellow or red – depending on the varietal). Summer evening temperatures remained much cooler than during the day, so ripening became more even and gradual, resulting in really well-balanced grapes (sugar content Vs phenolic ripeness).
Harvesting
The grapes were picked on the 25th February, early morning, with the first selection of bunches being conducted in the vineyards (any unripe, rotten or bird-damaged bunches were cut and dropped on the floor). Once the 20kg picking cases reached the cellar (1km away) they were loaded directly into the cooling room and brought down to about 12⁰C. The grapes were then sent along a sorting table, to remove anything that may have been missed by the vineyard pickers.
Vinification
From here, the grapes were de-stemmed but left intact (i.e. not crushed), then sent directly into a stainless-steel tank. A 3 day, cold soak pre-empted the spontaneous, natural fermentation, which continued gradually for a period of just over three weeks. The free-run wine was then separated from the skins and sent to French-oak barrels to mature. The skins were then pressed and the press wine was kept in separate barrels, to be blended together at a later stage. Beautiful depth of colour and a superb structure are the results of the vinification process. The whole-berry fermentation really highlights the flavour compounds while providing balanced tannin structures, making this a really solid wine. The perfect way to end the day!