Stellenbosch Syrah

Bolder, warm climate Syrah pairs well with strongly flavoured foods. Slow roasted pork or steak with a blue cheese sauce pair well with full- bodied red wines.

Syrah grapes were sourced from three distinct vineyard sites in the Stellenbosch district. The first two vineyards are both situated higher than 300-metres above sea level, planted with SH9 and SH22 Syrah clones. The soils are dominated by decomposed granite, and each site brings its own nuance and complexity to the wine. The third vineyard is nestled down in the cooler part of Devon Valley on deep Oakleaf soils. The vineyard on the Polkadraai Hills was planted on a southeast-facing slope in 1996 and contributes most of the perfume and spice to the wine. Structure and fruit intensity comes from a vineyard of low-yielding granitic soils in the Bottelary ward; a ‘mother unit’ planted along a northwest aspect in 2001. The vineyard in the Devon Valley lends some striking acidity and white pepper to the fruit.

All fermentations took place spontaneously with naturally-occurring yeasts. Malolactic conversion occurred spontaneously, with maturation in 1000-litre oak foudres for 11 months. The wine was bottled without fining to ensure a more complex and authentic expression of Syrah.

To showcase the impact of site in the Stellenbosch Syrah, the harvested fruit was separated into numerous smaller fermentation batches, with the whole- cluster fraction of each batch ranging from 50 to 100 percent per vessel. Open-top fermenters and 1000-litre oak foudres received a combination of pump-overs and pigéage two or three times per day. The remaining two 1000-litre oak foudres were treated with the ‘submerged cap’ technique to enhance the body and fruit concentration of the wine. A unique element in the final blend came from a portion that was kept aside as 100% intact whole clusters. This portion was stored under pressure for 30 days before pressing, undergoing carefully controlled carbonic fermentation in a sealed tank. There were no pump-overs or pigéage during fermentation, allowing this carbonic macerated component to contribute enormous purity of fruit and silky tannins to the final blend.

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.”