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. Small parcels of grapes are specifically selected according to ripeness, harvested by hand and 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 2017. We produced 12 605 bottles and 158 magnums.

TASTING NOTE

The Keermont Syrah 2016 has a dark plummy red colour. It has an enchanting bouquet of lavender, cherries, cloves, and vanilla. The palate is elegant and soft with dark strawberry and cherry flavours and hints of citrus rind, herbs, and vanilla. The tannins are light, but firm and the wine has a long rich savoury finish. Drink 2021-2028.

VINTAGE REPORT

The 2016 vintage was a challenging one for the vineyard team. It started with 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, we 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.

BLOCKS

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

ACCOLADES

SYRAH 16: 91 pts NEAL MARTIN (Wine Advocate)
SYRAH 16: 92 pts TIM ATKIN (MW)
SYRAH 16: 4 ½ stars PLATTER’S GUIDE