Swartland Syrah

Lamb loin confit belly, served with harissa, babaganoush, chick peas, baby marrow, pistacchio and lamb jus.

Swartland’s 2023 post-harvest rains and cold winter delivered excellent reserve accumulation and even early budding. September’s wet, cool conditions slowed growth and reduced fruit set, while October winds further limited yield. Véraison came early, and January heat accelerated ripening without excessive sunburn. The resulting fruit was small-berried and intensely flavoured. The grapes were harvested between 16 and 26 February. The fruit for this wine comes from three markedly different Swartland sites. The first bush vine block is situated on the foothills of the Paardeberg, on Jakkalsfontein farm, and is rooted in free-draining decomposed granite soils. It makes up 10% of the blend and brings perfume, spice, and purity. The second vineyard sits on the western foot of the Kasteelberg at 340m above sea level. This east-facing slope of exposed schist provides structure and fruit depth. The final vineyard lies in the heart of the Swartland, facing east. These trellissed vines are planted on Malmesbury shale and schist, lending the wine its mineral edge and structure. The Damascene team planted a further 2ha on this site in 2023.

The wine was matured in 2000L Austrian oak vats for 11 months and bottled without fining to ensure a more complex and authentic expression of Syrah

This Syrah shows the kind of concentration typical of low-yielding vineyards in Mediterranean climates. The site provides formidable structure, so a high degree of whole-berry fermentation and the submerged cap technique ensures that tannins stay soft without losing intensity. Approximately 75% of the fruit was fermented as whole clusters, across a mix of tulip-shaped concrete fermenters and 1000L conical oak vats. The fruit from granitic parcels received gentle pump-overs — never more than twice daily — to preserve perfumed aromatics and purity of fruit. In contrast, fruit from shale and schist-derived soils was fermented under submerged cap. This far more gentle technique keeps tannins soft and brings breadth to the palate. Both primary fermentation and malolactic conversion 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.”