Damascene Ceres Plateau 2023 750ml

The lightest of the Damascene Syrahs but with exceptional fruit purity, this wine opens with vibrant aromas of raspberry sherbet, red currants, pink peppercorn, and a hint of toffee apple candy. The palate reveals a spectrum of red fruit alongside pristine blood orange and red mulberry acidity. Beneath this lies a foundation of black cherry and blackberry, complemented by a savory tang of dried goji berry. The finish is characterized by vivid, youthful cherry-skin tannins.

This vineyard is planted in Bokkeveld shale soils atop the Ceres Plateau in the Witzenberg mountain range, one of South Africa’s highest-altitude growing regions at 1000 meters above sea level. The vineyard experiences extreme conditions, including winter snowfall and intense diurnal temperature shifts, resulting in slow ripening. It is always the last vineyard we harvest each vintage.

The fruit was hand-harvested on April 16th. Syrah from the Ceres Plateau is known for its intensity, so careful handling is required in the winery to achieve balanced wines. Due to the higher level of natural tannins, only 60% of the fruit was fermented as whole clusters, while the rest was de-stemmed and fermented as whole berries. Fermentation took place in tulip-shaped concrete fermenters using the submerged cap technique to soften the structure and showcase the intensity of these high-altitude vineyards. Primary fermentation and malolactic conversion occurred spontaneously, followed by 11 months of maturation in 2000-liter conical Austrian oak vats. The wine was bottled without fining for a more complex and authentic expression of Syrah.