“1242” Syrah 2021

Description

Bottling date  7 & 8 Dec 2021
Production  2,000 bottles
Wine of Origin  Elgin

Technical Details at Bottling
Alcohol  12.5%
Residual sugar 2.98%
Total acidity 4.75
pH  3.8

Winemaking

Grapes were hand-picked later than the previous five years, on the 24^th March 2021 and arrived in Johannesburg 48 hours later in via a cold truck (5 degrees Celsius). They were hand sorted, lightly crushed and de-stemmed into 1,000L plastic tanks. Spontaneous fermentation started within a day, manual punch-downs were done two or three times daily as required.

This was followed by one week of cold soaking to further extract flavor and tannin. The wine was pressed by basket press and in to our ‘Flex Cube’ for an 11 month maturation where secondary (malo-lactic) fermentation went through.

Tasting Notes
The nose presents blackberries and brambles. Juicy red fruits alongside earthy, sweet rosemary spice and hints of tobacco box on a good length palate. A lingering light, fine tannin finish.

A complex yet elegant light red perfect for lunch and summer dinners.

Vintage
This vintage was notable for ‘normal’ weather after the recent drought years, with some rain that cooled the soils and allowed the harvest to occur at a more usual time of year.

These Elgin grapes grow 1,242kms as the crow flies from our Craighall Park cellar.

Vineyard

Elgin vineyards are in an elevated cool climate biome often blessed with a cool southerly wind that keeps daytime temperatures down and nights cold. This diurnal temperature variation slows down the ripening process allowing grapes to be harvested later in the season.