Region: South Africa
Grapes: Syrah
Alcohol: 13%
Notes on the Wine
Soils: Bokkeveld shale with ferricrete rock. Harvest: In Elgin we had cool nights and moderate day temperatures in the 6 weeks leading up to harvest. We took advantage of the slow ripening conditions and the Syrah was harvested in 2 batches. The first batch came in on 6 March 2020, at 23.1 Balling. The second batch came in on 11 March 2020 at 24 Balling.
Due to the very good phenolic ripeness, we got whole bunch fever. The first batch was fermented with 70 % whole bunch, just to get some healthy natural yeast activity going in the cellar. The second batch was fermented with 100% whole bunch, inoculated with some wild yeast from the first batch. The first batch was pressed 3 weeks after harvest. The second batch needed some time on the skins after ferment to settle down the tannins from the stalks. The second batch was pressed 4 weeks after harvest.
