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
2019 was the last year of the drought. From different vineyards on the estate, but mostly from the middle of the slope at 200 m. Co-fermented with a tiny bit (about 2%) of whole-bunch Roussanne and Viognier. Small-batch fermented with native yeasts. 20 months in small French oak barrels. Unfined and unfiltered. So perfumed and intense and sweet and stunning on the nose. Lifted and more fragrant than the 2020. The tannins are more transparent. It’s more floral, more peppery, more refined and it tastes as if the acidity is a little higher, a little tense. Bruised damson skin, pomegranate, crushed gravel and dark-dark-red fruit and then just a little smoky on the finish. [Tamlyn Currin, 24/02/2024]
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]
