Description
The 2019 Three Pines Syrah is a wine that exemplifies balance and finesse. Produced from a single block planted in 1991 at 360 meters, it underwent 20 months of maturation in French oak, with about 15% new barrels. The wine was basket-pressed and unfiltered, preserving its pure expression. Despite a drought, the vintage benefitted from cooler conditions and low yields, resulting in excellent fruit quality. The wine showcases a harmonious blend of floral notes, pepperiness, and smooth red cherry and currant flavors. It has a finely textured mouthfeel, described by critics as “the texture of crushed violets,” with vibrant acidity and a long, elegant finish.
Food Pairing: Perfect for lamb, game meats (such as venison), and roasted poultry.
Producer Profile
This signature wine is the bedrock of Stark-Conde, showcasing the excellence of the Jonkershoek Valley. Blended with traditional Bordeaux varietals, it reveals rich blackberry fruit aromas, complemented by tea-leaf and cedar wood notes. The palate is polished and full of dark fruit and mocha flavors, with balanced acidity and a long finish, highlighted by the fine tannins typical of the valley. Aged for 20 months in French oak (30% new), this wine is bottled without fining or filtration.
Reviews
JancisRobinson.com 17.5
From a single vineyard (Three Pines) on the estate. Vineyard bunch selection and winery selection (they have an amazing vineyard crew who have been working with them for 30 years). Small-batch fermented with native yeasts. 20 months in small French oak barrels. Unfined and unfiltered. 2019 was the last year of drought so yields were low, berries were tiny, concentration was high. Just 3,308 bottles produced. Violets, red pepper, pink peppercorns, ras al hanout fragrance. The tannins are deeply fissured, silk taffeta, peppery, grippingly seductive and yet gently insistent – like heart beat. The fruit is as fine as Pinot Noir, glistening, the dark blue black of elderberries one moment, the sharp paper-cut red of holly berries the next. Tomato vine and vine tomatoes. Pine-needle and clove aromatic. Extraordinarily elegant. Long, inky, graphite curling ribbon of a finish. (TC) [24/02/2024]
Anticipated maturity: 2024-2030
Tim Atkin 93
Bigger, bolder and more compact than the straight Stark-Conde Syrah, this comes from a single block planted in 1991 at 360 metres. Fermented with 20% whole bunches, it’s meaty, tangy and appealingly reductive with some ginger spice and violet top notes and grippy, focused red and black cherry fruit. 2023-29 [Tim Atkin MW, 01/09/2021]
