Product Description
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Varieties
Syrah
The Vineyard
Keermont Syrah is a blend of three different Syrah vineyard sites growing on Keermont Vineyards:
Steepside Syrah: Growing on a North facing slope in deep, red clay-rich soils; this vineyard generally produces powerful full-bodied wines with rich, spicy flavours.
Topside Syrah: An unirrigated west facing vineyard planted at 400m above sea level on rocky sandstone-based soil. Topside Syrah is usually a more aromatic wine with good structure and natural acid.
Sweetwater Syrah: Situated in a rocky valley below the Fleurfontein spring, this is the coolest of the three Syrah sites and ripens the latest. Sweetwater Syrah is normally lighter and elegant in style with a herbal aroma.
All grapes used in producing our wines are grown on Keermont Vineyards.
Starting with a moderate winter temperatures and below average rainfall. Spring came early and was also relatively warm and dry and we started to irrigate earlier than usual. The weather continued to warm up towards Christmas and we experienced average maximum temperatures of 30°C and 35°C for December and January respectively! Fortunately, they had some rain during December which pepped the vines up leading into the critical ‘veraison’ period. This is when the berries change colour and begin to ripen and enter a high water-demand period.
With all of the hot, dry weather the grapes ripened quickly and we started picking earlier than ever before (19 January). We had a crazy month of harvesting where we processed 78 tons of grapes from the farm including 11 different varieties. Fortunately, we stayed on top of the picking and were able to get all of the grapes in with good analysis. Harvest ended as quickly as it had begun and by 19 February we had picked all of the grapes for Keermont wines.
The Harvest
Small parcels of grapes are specifically selected according to ripeness, harvested by hand.
The Cellar
Each Syrah is vinified separately. This process is carried out gently and naturally in open top fermenters using traditional methods only. This wine spent 20 months maturing in seasoned 500 and 225 litre French oak barrels before being bottled by hand without filtration on 9 November.
ANALYSIS
Alc: 14.5 %
pH: 3.61
TA: 5.1 g/L
RS: 2.6 g/L
TSO2: 62 mg/L
VA: 0.69 g/L
They produced 12 605 bottles and 158 magnums.
Aging Potential
10 to 15 years
Awards
SYRAH 15: 91 pts WINE MAGAZINE
SYRAH 15: 93 pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
SYRAH 15: 4 ½ stars PLATTER’S GUIDE
SYRAH 15: 93 pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
SYRAH 14: 4 stars PLATTER’S GUIDE
SYRAH 14: 94 pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
SYRAH 14: 90 pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
SYRAH 13: 93 pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
SYRAH 13: 4 stars PLATTER GUIDE
SYRAH 12: 95 pts (5 stars) DECANTER MAGAZINE
SYRAH 12: 17 pts JANCIS ROBINSON
SYRAH 12: 92 pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
SYRAH 12: 94 pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
SYRAH 12: MATTHEW JUKES WoW in Money week:”my top red wine from the recent South African expo ….””the greatest South African sensory experiences of my year “- 21 November 2014
SYRAH 12: 4 stars PLATTER GUIDE
SYRAH 11: 91 pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
SYRAH 10: 93 pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
SYRAH 10: 92pts JAMES MOLESWORTH (Wine Spectator)
SYRAH 10: 19/20 RENÉ GABRIEL
SYRAH 10: 92pts PETER MOSER (Falstaff)
SYRAH 10: 17.5pts JULIA HARDING (MW) (Jancis Robinson)
SYRAH 09: 94 pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
SYRAH 09: 91pts JAMES MOLESWORTH (Wine Spectator)
SYRAH 09: 94pts PETER MOSER (Falstaff)
