Ceres Plateau Syrah

Beef, Lamb, Poultry, Game (deer, venison)

The Ceres Plateau experienced a cold, wet winter and moderate flowering conditions, followed by a season of warm nights and cooler-than-average daytime temperatures from December onward. This combination allowed for slow, even ripening and a superb balance of natural acidity. The fruit was hand-picked between 29 February and 11 March. It showed great clarity and vibrancy — marking this as a standout vintage for the Ceres Plateau Syrah. This vineyard is planted into the Bokkeveld shale soils of the Witzenberg mountain range, atop the Ceres Plateau. Situated in one of South Africa’s most elevated growing regions, the site sits at over 1000m above sea level and presents all the textbook extremes of high-altitude viticulture. In winter, the vineyard is often blanketed in snow, while a dramatic diurnal shift slows ripening. It is invariably the final Syrah block we harvest each year.

The wine was then matured in 2000L Austrian foudre for 11 months, and bottled without fining to preserve a more complex and authentic expression of Syrah.

The fruit was harvested by hand between 29 February and 11 March. Syrah from the Ceres Plateau carries immense natural intensity, so the winemaking calls for a gentler hand. Higher natural tannins meant only 60% of the fruit was fermented as whole clusters, with the balance destemmed and fermented as whole berries. Fermentation took place in tulip-shaped concrete fermenters using a submerged-cap technique, helping to soften the wine’s structure while preserving its clarity. Both primary and malolactic fermentations occurred spontaneously.

DAMASCENE is a partnership between Jean Smit and David Curl, former owner of Château Gaby in Canon-Fronsac, Bordeaux. What began as a conversation around making wine from the Pinot Noir planted on Curl’s Elgin estate swiftly revealed the pair’s shared passion for celebrating unsung pockets of South African terroir. Following the maxim of ‘Less cult, more cultivation’, the founding philosophy of DAMASCENE is simple, yet unyielding: that the journey to great wine can only begin in the vineyard. “DAMASCENE is about seeking out memorable vineyards and sites that truly showcase the incredible diversity of terroir we have here in the Western Cape,” says Smit. “I spend countless days on the road, covering thousands of kilometres, visiting vineyards and farmers in search of special parcels of land.”