2018 Olifantsberg Syrah

Olifantsberg Family Vineyards is less than an hour's drive from Cape Town, in the middle of the South African wine region Breedekloof. This small five-hectare winery has been owned by the Dutch Leeuwerik family since 2003. The Olifantsberg vineyards are located on the slopes of the Brandwacht Mountains. Thanks to the high location and the almost constant blowing wind, there is a cool microclimate. Ideal conditions for the production of top quality grapes! The vineyard is worked with respect for nature. The vines are fertilized organically and the yield in the vineyard is deliberately kept low. All this with the aim of harvesting optimally ripe, healthy and concentrated grapes of high quality. After the manual harvest, these grapes are taken to the newly built vinification cellar. Here too, winemaker Jacques de Plessis lets nature do its work. After crushing the grapes, a traditional skin soaking follows and the grapes are fermented. After this, they are aged in oak barrels, of which about a third are renewed annually. The Olifantsberg wines are therefore perfectly balanced with beautifully dosed oak in smell and taste.

Our Syrah is grown as echalas vines (three locations) and as trellised vines (two locations) on clay-slate rich soil with a high content of quartz rock. The Syrah plantations capture all the different aspects of the Olifantsberg, located 300m to 470m above sea level. The cooler microclimate of the traditional echalas has a higher acidity and a different aromatic complexity than the vines. By selecting from the various Syrah clones, they have further enhanced the natural complexity of our wines. Clone 9; 470; 21; 22

The Olifantsberg estate almost exclusively contains grape varieties that are also found in the northern and southern Rhône, so a pure Syrah cannot be missed here. The Olifantsberg Syrah therefore has a hermitage-like character, but with a Priorat influence because the wines have more minerality due to the unique slate terroir and are more spicy. The fact that South Africa lends itself very well to Syrah is not new, but the price / quality of this Syrah is very nice and, in our humble opinion, can be better than many much more expensive Australian Syrah. The wine is a beautiful dark red in the glass. This wine has all the characteristics of a class Syrah. Nice spiciness and nice fresh acidity. Lots of ripe fruit. Nice balance. The wine has fine-grained but ripe tannins. The wine is now excellent to drink but can also mature for a number of years.

Press wine ****(*) very good/excellent

Tim Atkin Report: 94 points (2018)
Platter 4.5* (2018)