2022 SYRAH, Connect The Dots, Minimalist Wines. Western Cape South Africa

This Syrah is blended from three separate cooler regions: predominantly Elgin (which Sam firmly believes has a great future with this variety), with a proportion from Polkerdraai and Agulhas. Bunches were cooled overnight, then fermented with a mixture of whole bunch and crushed grapes fermented and indigenous yeasts. Skins were left in contact for around two weeks to extract both colour and tannins. The wine as then aged in in 228 and 300lt used French oak casks for around 16 months.

100% Syrah

Sam Lambson – owner/winemaker of Minimalist Wines – is one of the bright young stars of the Cape wine scene. Sam grew up in Johannesburg with a family who had no winemaking background. The turning point came after tasting a bottle of Jamet Côte-Rôtie 1998, a wine that has inspired his winemaking path ever since.

He had considered both chemical engineering and law at university, but instead went off to study winemaking in Stellenbosch. To help finance his course he worked in a wine shop in Stellenbosch and did harvests under Carl van de Merwe of De Morgenzon (2017) and Lukas van Loggerenberg (2018). Having developed a particular love (and following) for cool climate Syrah he took this as the foundation of his approach to winemaking from thereon – starting in 2019.

From a basic start he shared winemaking facilities in both 2020 and 2021, whilst also using the Monterosso cellars in Stellenbosch and Oneric in Elgin to store wine in tank and barrel. The plan is to open an urban wine cellar in the Woodstock district of Cape Town’s southern suburbs.

This is a stylish take on the Northern Rhône style. Dry and savoury with silky tannins, bright blackberry fruit, and a touch of black olive. Lovely texture and mouthfeel.

You can enjoy now but can equally age for another 3-5 years. No need to decant and can be enjoyed cool in the summer months