Proprietor's Syrah

Cheese, especially aged hard cheeses like Gouda. Barbecue spareribs.

The 2018 harvest season will be remembered as the drought season. At Ernie Els Wines we are very blessed to have bountiful water on the Helderberg. We were, however, still careful with our water use during the summer months leading up to harvest. We’d also been working hard to adapt our viticultural techniques during the previous three years to help the vineyards cope optimally with the heat and limited irrigation. The drought was further buffered by a surprisingly cooler season. Due to the somewhat buffered circumstances, the vines reacted gracefully to the drought with no abnormal growth patters observed. Vine canopies were kept nice and thin for sunlight and, of course, less leaves meant less water needed. Vineyards are resilient plants and its natural instinct in drier years is to produce smaller bunches with smaller berries. Small berries are usually the start of a great wine and 2018 was no different. The Shiraz vineyards grow on the warm, north-facing slopes of the Helderberg region within the Stellenbosch appellation. With an altitude of approximately 250 metres above sea level, together with the cooling influence of the Atlantic Ocean, the ripening period can be extended, resulting in wines with phenolic ripeness.

Aged for 18 months in French oak barrels (25% new).

The grapes were hand-harvested in the cool of the early morning. Whole berries were fermented in open top tanks and barrels with intermittent pump-overs and punch-downs to ensure a balance between flavour, colour and tannin extraction from the skins. The Shiraz component was partially whole bunch fermented to aid with flavour complexity. All ferments were meticulously monitored to ensure that the natural aromas and flavours were preserved. After primary fermentation, some tanks underwent extended maceration. Each variety was matured separately in oak before final blending and bottling.

As one of South Africa's leading ambassadors and one of the most recognizable faces in the world of sport it is befitting that Ernie chose Stellenbosch to produce his wines. In 1999 the concept of Ernie Els Wines was born and with the help of award-winning winemaker Louis Strydom they produced the maiden 2000 vintage of Ernie Els - a 'classic' Bordeaux blend. The intention from the outset was to focus on delivering a quality product that could hold its own in the company of the world's finest wines.