No Place Like Home Syrah

Beef, Lamb, Game (deer, venison), Mushrooms

Minimalist Wines is an independent South African wine producer focused on growing Cool Climate Syrah. We farm parcels in Cape Agulhas, Elgin and Stellenbosch regions aiming to deliver an authentic expression of vineyard site.

No Place Like Home is the second single-origin Syrah to join the Minimalist Wine family. It is a clear and complex expression of the cool-climate Elgin Valley and sits alongside Stars In The Dark, our tribute to the rugged terroir of Cape Agulhas. The grapes all come from Niemandsrivier, a beautiful 3 hectare vineyard in Elgin that we lease from Johan and Milanie Vosloo and farm ourselves. Planted in 2006, it features three clones on a geographically complex mix of Sandstone and Shale soils and is the perfect canvas to produce fine wines. Vines located in the same block can react to their environment in unique ways and No Place Like Home is an exploration of the variation that exists within a single vineyard. Using a mix of drone technology (with a Near Infrared Camera flying 80m above the vineyard) and good, old-fashioned soil analysis, we identified four distinct pockets across the 3 hectare parcel, then harvested and fermented them separately before marrying them together. It has been fascinating to observe all the micro-differences in a small site like ours and the extent to which they can each impact flavour profile. No Place Like Home is a meticulous blend of four distinctly different wines produced from one 3ha block and the result is the finest expression of the vineyard’s complexity and intensity.

As always, our grapes do the talking, so we make our wines simply, but carefully, with minimal intervention. Each of the 4 picks was harvested separately, and completed their spontaneous fermentations over an average of two weeks, with 20% wholebunch and 1-2 punchdowns daily. Once pressed gently to tank, they were racked to neutral 228L French Oak, aged on gross lees through Winter, and racked again in Spring, before being returned to barrel where they each matured for a total of 16 months.