2019 Olifantsberg Syrah

Less than an hour's drive from Cape Town, in the heart of the South African wine region of Breedekloof, lies Olifantsberg Family Vineyards. This small, five-hectare estate 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 altitude 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 organically fertilized 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 maceration follows and the grapes are fermented. After this they are matured in oak barrels of which about a third is renewed annually. The wines of Olifantsberg are therefore perfectly balanced with nicely dosed oak in aroma and taste.

Our Syrah is grown as echalas vines (three sites) and as trellised vines (two sites) on clay-shale rich soils with a high content of quartz rock. The Syrah plantings capture all the different aspects of the Olifantsberg, located at 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 different 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 such as those found in the northern and southern Rhône, so a pure Syrah cannot be missed here. The Olifantsberg Syrah has a hermitage-like character, but with a Priorat influence, because the wines have more minerality as a result of the unique slate terroir and are more spicy. It is not new that South Africa lends itself very well to Syrah, but the price/quality of this Syrah is very nice and, in our humble opinion, it can do better than many much more expensive Australian Syrahs. The wine is beautifully dark red in the glass. This wine has all the characteristics of a class Syrah. Nice spiciness and beautiful fresh acids. Lots of ripe fruit. Nice balance. The wine has fine-grained but ripe tannins. The wine is now excellent to drink, but can also easily mature for a number of years.

Perswijn ****(*) very good/excellent

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