Clonal Selection Elgin Syrah

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The grapes were handpicked under autumnal skies into small lug baskets and then manually sorted on a conveyor before the stems were removed. The destemmed berries fell onto a vibrating table in order to remove jacks and substandard berries before dropping uncrushed into a small 500kg conical hopper and being forklifted into open-topped fermenters. The grapes underwent a 3-day maceration before spontaneous fermentation began. A gentle pigeage program was charted and the grapes remained on skins for 21-29 days.

The trend of below average winter rainfall, which begun in the winter of 2015 persisted in the winter of 2017. Thus, soils were drier and cover crops less established, however this must be seen in the context of Elgin, being one of the most reliable areas with regards rainfall and the storage thereof. So even a reduction in our normal pattern still left us much better off than the rest of South Africa’s wine areas. What did cause a reduction in our seasonal yield was wet, cool and windy weather during flowering, however, this affected the earlier ripening varieties and thankfully Syrah was largely spared as it flowered in early November. There were some hot days but no damaging heatwaves and on average the growing season was cooler resulting in smaller berries. In what seems to have become a trend, we again experienced sporadic showers during the growing season, providing some relief in terms of water, vapour pressure deficit and temperature. There were however reports of hail damage from some parts. The cooler weather meant slower ripening, and this allowed the vines to accumulate the important secondary metabolites that are the hallmark of noble cultivars interacting with well-matched terroir.

The wine was then racked to barrel under gravity and the remaining pomace basket-pressed. Malolactic then proceeded in barrel followed by a light sulphuring and 17-month maturation. No finings were necessary, and the wine was simply racked and bottled unfiltered.