Stellenbosch Syrah

The grapes for this wine were hand-harvested in late-February and cooled overnight to 14 degrees C., before being carefully hand-sorted and crushed into small open fermentation vats. The must was cold-soaked for a couple of days before being inoculated with a mix of domestic and imported Rhône yeasts. About 10% of the wine was whole-bunch fermented with its stems. From the 2014 vintage onwards we started to introduce a small amount of co-fermented Viognier and Roussanne. Although co-fermenting Roussanne is not very typical, it is allowed in Hermitage and adds a finely textured tannin. Regular, vigorous punchdowns were given every 4 hours for the first half of fermentation, then every 8 hours thereafter. At dryness (average 7-10 days), it was basket pressed and racked directly to barrel for malo-lactic fermentation and subsequent barrel maturation.

This is a blend from 3 different vineyard blocks at different elevations on our Jonkershoek Valley farm. The higher elevation vineyards have a finely textured decomposed granite soil and tend to produce a more elegant wine with softer tannins, while the lower vineyard is very rocky and gives a denser, fruitier, more tannic wine.

A mix of coopers was used, all French oak, all 300-litre, mostly second-fill (about 20% new). After 20 months barrel maturation, the wine was bottled without fining and without filtration.