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Intellego

2022

Syrah

Swartland - South Africa

About

The artwork depicted on this Syrah bottle is intended to sync with the Intellego Chenin Blanc label; they both illustrate the two opposing seasons of summer and winter. This tells a greater story of the Swartland’s raw climate, which can have drastic shifts, not only diurnally but seasonally. The fruit is from a single, bush vine, dry-farmed block on the Hillside Vineyard in the Malmesbury Hills. Jurgen always sources his fruit from vineyards that don’t use of glyphosate, and while not certified, the wine is organic for all intents and purposes. Earlier on, Jurgen thought the 2022 conditions would lend themselves to a later harvest but warm winds in early fall led to an earlier ripening period. Jurgen and his team quickly picked the grapes that were still in a good, healthy condition before alcohol rose too quickly.

Whole clusters of the beautiful Syrah fruit were placed in open-top plastic fermenters and allowed to ferment on skins for two weeks until 12% alcohol. After this time, the wine was pressed off the skins and was sent to old French oak where it spent 10 months to develop and add structure. It was bottled without fining or filtration, and just the slightest sulfur addition to preserve freshness.

Stats

  • Grapes: 100% Syrah
  • Vineyard: Hillside Vineyard (southwest of Malmesbury)
  • Vine Age: 15-years-old
  • Soil Type: Laterite with sandy top layer
  • Viticulture: Practicing organic – dry-farmed
  • Fermentation: Native – plastic tank (100% whole cluster, semi-carbonic)
  • Skin Contact: 10 days
  • Aging: 11 months in old French oak
  • Alcohol: 12.5%
  • pH: 3.74
  • Total Acidity: 5 g/L
  • Total SO2: 36 ppm
  • Total Production: 133 cases
  • UPC: None

Tasting Notes

Deep yet bright, this wine has notes of blackberry, dried herbs, and earth. Youthful red berry fruits come through on the medium-bodied palate, and bright acidity brings you to the finish, complete with smooth tannins.

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