GPS Klein River Syrah

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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 20 days.

The 2017 winter experienced an earlier leaf fall in the post-harvest period due to a shortage of irrigation water. The dry soils made it challenging to seed and grow a cover crop. The initial winter was reasonably warm, but by mid-May into June and July the temperatures dropped dramatically, and there was an increase in the year’s cold units helping with winter dormancy. The stand out challenge though was the lack of rainfall. Only 80% of the expected winter rainfall fell, and it was recorded as the driest winter on record. Spring warmed up quickly, and budburst was fast and even. However, the weather did fluctuate and thus shoot growth varied. Flowering at the end of October was slightly affected by above-average rainfall though the Syrah was only marginally affected. What was peculiar about this precipitation is that it was accompanied by high temperatures and thunder in the middle of the growing season. This led to fast shoot growth and in the cellar to high nitrogen levels that helped natural fermentation. Thus a lot of extra canopy management was required. During the ripening period, the night temperatures were cooler than average, giving good colour and flavour development. Harvest also was surprisingly late as the maturation was delayed by the colder weather. Warmer February temperatures allowed for ripeness to speed up and the Syrah was picked in early March.

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 16-month maturation. No finings were necessary, and the wine was simply racked and bottled unfiltered.