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Keermont Steepside Syrah 2018
R637.00
“Deep, royal red in colour the Steepside Syrah has a brooding dusty red fruit character on the nose with hints of white pepper, cloves and fynbos. The palate is soft and full with a gentle chalky tannin structure. Ripe spicy fruit flavours are complimented by notes of herbs and pepper. The delicate flavours and tannin linger into a succulent dry finish. Drink 2020-2028.” – winemaker’s tasting notes
All grapes used in producing this wine come from our Steepside Syrah block. Small parcels of grapes are specifically selected according to ripeness, harvested by hand and vinified separately. Fermentation is carried out by yeast which occurs naturally on the grape skins and in the winery. Red wines spend three to four weeks fermenting and macerating on the skins in small open top tanks with one or two gentle punch-downs performed per day. This wine spent 20 months maturing in seasoned 225L and 500L French oak barrels before being bottled by hand and only 2822 bottles and 50 magnums were produced.
Despite prevailing drought conditions, 2018 was a very good growing season on Keermont. They had a fairly cold winter although it was drier than usual. Spring arrived quite early and the warm weather ensured an even budburst. They had some good rain showers during the season which allowed for the vines to grow sufficiently. These factors led to the formation of a healthy crop which ripened evenly. They had very notable diurnal temperature variation during this season (warm days and cool nights) which is responsible for good tannin, colour and flavour development. Harvest started at the beginning of February and ran very smoothly. They processed 87 tons (13 varieties) in the Keermont winery over the period of 7 weeks.
ANALYSIS: ALC 14.5% | TA 5 g/l | RS 1 g/l | p 3.79
Description
Keermont Vineyards created their Single Vineyard Series in order to showcase the quality and specific character of the wines produced from these single vineyard parcels, all on the farm. Due to the nature of each wine, production is very small and when a particular growing season does not result in fruit good enough for these wines, none will be released.
There are four wines that currently make up the Single Vineyard Series: two Syrahs, one Cabernet Franc and one old vine Chenin Blanc.
Planted in 2005 on the steep mid-slopes of the Helderberg Mountain range, the Steepside Syrah vineyard sits at an elevation of 300m above sea level. Vines grow in red clay loam soils with high levels of iron and quartzite originating from the peaks above. The combination of these deep granitic soils and the intensity of the sunshine on the north-facing ridge allows the vineyard to produce wines with power and structure, while the spicy herbal aromatics can be attributed to the elevation and the pristine fynbos flora that surround it.
Additional Information
| Producer | Keermont |
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