Syrah

Pairs excellently with reds meats, reductions sauces and refined stews or can be enjoyed on its own.

The grapes used to make this wine are all from the same block: Liesel, named after the eldest sister of the van Almenkerk family. Our Syrah is planted on clayey degraded Bokkeveld soils with a north-east facing slope. The block consist of 3 different clones (SH07,SH09,SH22) which each contribute different characteristics to the wine. Our reds get extended hang-time in this cool climate, resulting in fully ripe fruit flavours without getting overripe flavours or extravagant alcohol levels. The rows are north-south facing to achieve optimal solar interception while allowing for the prevailing maritime winds to cool down the vineyard. Meticulous canopy management and precision viticulture are employed to obtain optimum ripeness.

The wine is then gently pressed and gravity- fed into small French oak barriques (225L) where it undergoes secondary (malolactic) fermentation. Subsequent to a racking, the wine is then left to mature for 18 months.

The grapes are allowed to soak (cold maceration) for 4 days until the cooling is turned off and natural (no inoculation) fermentation starts. Fermentation typically takes 7-10 days at temperatures of 25-28°C. Roughly 10% of the wine is carbonically fermented on the stalks and co-fermented with Viognier, contributing an additional layer of bright red fruit and angular tannins After alcoholic fermentation the wine is left on the skins for 2-3 weeks to achieve full extraction and promote tannin integration and colour stabilisation.

Almenkerk Wine Estate is a small family-owned wine estate situated in the Elgin valley just east of Cape Town South Africa. The estate is owned by the Belgian/Dutch van Almenkerk family and run by Natalie and Joris van Almenkerk. Whilst Joris has fun making award-winning wines Natalie is in charge of sales and marketing PR and admin. Patriarch Joep helps out with sales frequent wine tastings and as a mentor on the business side. As well as that we have a dedicated group of family and friends that come over to help us out by opening the tasting room when we are not around or assisting with the harvest. We’d love to welcome you to our estate in the beautiful cool-climate Elgin Valley. Come for a tasting and enjoy the spectacular views across the valley and vineyards whilst we share our story and wines with you.