PORSELEINBERG 2023
| Grape: | 100% Syrah |
| Vineyard: | Porseleinberg |
| Origin: | Swartland, South Africa |
| Vintage: | 2023 |
| ABV%: | 13.9% |
| Colour: | Deep red |
| Aromas: | The nose is a complex bouquet of rich dark fruits, featuring blackberries and plums, layered with hints of ripe cherries. Subtle herbal notes of thyme and rosemary add depth. |
| Flavours: | Full-bodied and well-structured, with a balance of bright red and dark fruits, with complex aromas of black pepper, violet, and herbs like rosemary and fennel. |
Winemaking Highlights
It was a challenging year, with only 308 mm of rain and a very dry growing season. December brought 64mm, which helped a bit, but it came too late to make a significant difference.
On the upside, the dry conditions during the growing season meant low disease pressure. However, berry set was poor, and we were looking at a small yield from early on.
January wasn't as hot as it was in 2022. We kicked off harvest on February 14th and wrapped up by March 8th. Bunches and berries were small and concentrated, with an average yield of around 4 tonnes per hectare.
Toward the end of the season, we noticed some oidium on the stems of the final picks, so we removed the stems and placed the berries straight into the tanks. Fermentation was split: 70% under submerged cap, 30% done conventionally with some pump-overs. We used 85% whole bunch and 15% destemmed fruit. Maturation lasted 12 months 90% in foudre, 10% in concrete.
Reviews
Tim Atkin MW - 100 points
"The 2023 growing season was "dry and difficult", according to Callie Louw, at least in this wild and starkly beautiful corner of the Swartland, but you wouldn’t know it from the quality of this superlative Syrah. Picked late, right up to March 8th, it has the concentration and intensity of a small crop. Fermented with 90% whole clusters, with 70% of the wine using the submerged cap technique, it's one of the most sublime Porseleinbergs yet, pairing aromas of incense, thyme and black pepper with firm, age-worthy tannins, blackberry, red berry and liquorice flavours and a stony, mineral core. Truly world class. 2027-35"