Their Mont Fleur farm, 393m up the slopes of Helderberg present a number of challenges to cultivate, and yet, they have been producing some of South Africa’s most awarded Syrahs here, year-on-year. The thing about these high altitude vineyards (we use the term ‘high altitude’ loosely as we’ve recently been reading up on Altura Máxima in Argentina, 3011m above sea level) is that they present three things that make for premium fruit: concentrated, direct sunlight; dramatic temperature shifts, which allow for slow ripening; and good drainage. Now you’d think these three things would be bad for the vine, but in fact it is the ultimate interpretation of the exquisite struggle, putting the vine under just enough strain to produce the purest expression of itself. Less is more.
David Trafford on his Syrah 393
We have the opportunity to offer you two verticals of the Syrah 393 produced from these slopes, as put together by David Trafford himself. As such he’s written us a beautiful introduction to these very special offers and we’d prefer for you to hear it from the proverbial horse’s mouth:
“There is no doubt in my mind that Syrah is the variety that can best reflect the amazing tapestries of terroir we have in the Western Cape, from the warm Swartland to the cooler Cape South Coast and higher lying sites, as well as the near perfect Stellenbosch region. In particular, it was obvious to me in 2005, that our farm high on the slopes of the Helderberg in Stellenbosch would be ideally suited to Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. We planted our steepest slope with the poorest, clay rich, decomposed granite soil with Syrah and the richest pockets closest to the Blaauwklippen River with Merlot and in between, the majority with Cabernet Sauvignon. At the time, the quality of plant material was quite limited and we limited ourselves to just 1/2 heactare. Once top quality plant material became available we extended this block higher up the mountain with a further 1,3 hectares in 2003. We had to create small terraces for our narrow (1,8m wide) rows and relatively high density planting of 5000 vines / hectare (not very common at the time). This has always produced our most exciting wine each vintage.
Technical Information
On a more technical note, we never add any tartaric acid to our wines (common practice in most regions outside the cooler European regions), added yeast or any fining or filtration. We have always found this block to have excellent analysis, with good pH and acidity, even at sometimes very high sugar levels. Despite the high alcohol levels, the wines are always well balanced with great purity. Usually drinking pretty well on release, showing great power, yet surprising elegance and with a few years in bottle greater harmony and softness. Whenever I present a vertical tasting, there is seldom an overwhelming favourite and I hope that you find great pleasure in every wine in its expression of the vintage and within its own evolution. I hope this to be a journey of discovery, rather than me tell you what to taste, but for a snapshot of each vintage this may assist:
2005 - hot summer, but a lot of rain at an ideal time - rich, forward and delicious from day 1
2006 - hot, dry summer - more meaty and quite backward at first, matured very well
2007 - warm summer with cool evenings and a little rain during harvest - elegant, more spice
2008 - similar to 2007 with more rain and warmer nights - more fruit and less spice, but starting to tire
2009 - warm/hot, dry summer exceptional, but massive fires adding a smoky touch - excellent structure and pure syrah at peak maturity
2010 - hot, dry summer - big, powerful syrah drinking well at an early age and should continue for a few more years
2011 - hot, dry summer - big, rich, powerful syrah drinking well at an early age and should continue for a few more years
2012 - one early heatwave, then a moderate summer - elegant, balanced berry and spice flavours
2013 - strong winds reduced crop by half, cooler, dry summer - elegant, with attractive acidity and spice - a year or two to be at best
2014 - warm summer with some early and late rain - less concentrated, elegant with lovely berry and spice - a year or two to be at best
2015 - hot, dry summer, very early, but exceptional - concentrated, pure berry and spice - 2 or 3 years to be at best”
We suggest you pinpoint the vintage that most intrigues you and let that lead you to the right case, in a smartish fashion given their limited availability…
