Syrah Du Plateau

Pork, Poultry, Beef, Lamb

The vineyard for this wine is situated at an altitude of 960m above sea level on the Witzenberg Mountains in Ceres. With very hot and dry summer days and cold nights, as well as sub-zero temperatures in winter, the specific micro-climate of this vineyard is quite unique to the Western Cape as it has more characteristics of a Continental Climate than the Mediterranean Climate the Cape is known for. Cool nights during the season results in slower ripening, from a practical point of view meaning that the grapes spend more time on the vine and has more concentrated fruit flavours upon harvest than many of its counterparts. The vineyards also have less disease pressure due to excellent weather, resulting in extremely healthy grapes. 2022 was our first vintage working with this specific vineyard, the resulting wine is something completely different than any of the other wines in our portfolio and it is an honour to be able to work with fruit of this calibre, highlighting the versatility that grapes of outstanding quality affords the winemaker.

We had tried 100% whole bunch carbonic maceration before with varying degrees of success depending on a myriad of factors that include temperature of grapes upon arrival and the general health thereof. In a cloud of dry ice to eliminate all oxygen (another determining factor in carbonic maceration and whole-bunch ferments) the grapes were loaded into the tank by conveyor belt and the tank sealed for 5 days. Thereafter alcoholic fermentation well and truly kicked off and the skins were worked by pumping over the juice once a day for a week. The light touch resulted in a light red, fruit-driven wine with tight acidity and delicate tannins.

Kleine Zalze wines are marked by a classical structure and complexity matched by a vibrant flavour intensity. Discernibly South African in style, they are refreshing, beautifully balanced and well-suited to food. Our wines are made according to traditional methods with minimal cellar intervention, but supported by modern equipment.