In The Cellar
"All the fruit was harvested from two cool climate, low-altitude Syrah parcels (50m above sea level), just 8km from the stark and blustery coast. Facing North West, one is 22 years old, planted on Clay and the other (23 years) on Koffieklip soils. As always, we let the sites do the talking, so the fruit was matured for 12 months in neutral 228L and 300L French Oak.
We harvest in the cool, early hours of the morning, into 14kg Lug boxes and transport grapes back to the cellar in refrigerated trucks where they are allowed to cool overnight. After gentle foot-stomping and crushing (one third whole-bunch for this vintage), natural fermentation gets underway, at its own pace, in a combination of open and closed fermenters. Once complete, we macerate gently with a single, daily pumpover/punchdown."
In The Vineyard
"An exceptional, cool late vintage. The growing season was off to a slow start with bud break two weeks later than normal. Strong canopy growth required careful management and several extra passes through the vines. A cool early growing season was broken by lengthy heat waves, before returning to cool fair weather in the lead up to harvest. The prevailing dry conditions allowed for extended hang time on the vines, contributing to plush ripe tannins and real flavour intensity."
"From a hot early season which eventually cooled allowing grapes to be picked 3 weeks later than usual. With 33% whole bunch fruit employed, the wine is dense, dark and moderately broody with perhaps less transparency in its youth but still showing the undeniably delicious Agulhas saline maritime depth despite the extra notions of ripeness. Wonderfully complex, the aromatics are loaded with salty black plum, stewed strawberry compote, cured meats, white pepper and smoky sweet cherry tobacco hints. In the mouth there are layers of fleshy opulence while retaining its superb old-world Syrah Northern Rhone-styled elegance and classicism. Silky textured, cool and seductively black fruited, this comes across as a very accomplished wine with ample power, defined elegance and very impressive depth. I remain a massive fan of this wine! Drink now and over the next 10 to 12+ years."
(96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
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