Groenekloof Syrah

Pork belly and braised chicken, Pasta marinara. Grilled Aubergine and Portabella Mushrooms

In 1984 Neil Ellis sourced grapes from vineyards not of his own and produced wine in rented cellar space. These grapes were sourced in the Stellenbosch district and meant a lot of nosing around the restrictive quota system prevalent at the time. His vision the pursuit of quality extended out of the cellar and into the vineyards where varieties would excel and best express a particular style of wine reflective of their environment. Today the experience and knowledge of the past are applied to modern techniques and technologies for a new generation of winemaking. “Our vision remains to make distinctive refined wines that are expressive of their terrain and rank amongst South Africa’s finest. A pursuit of quality nothing less.” Neil Ellis

Sourced from low yielding bush vines with no supplementary irrigation. The soils consist of decomposed granite and clay allowing for good physical properties like water retention. 2022 was slightly warmer than the cool 2021 vintage, the vines received sufficient rain from budburst to veraison. Harvest commenced on the 2nd of March and carried through to the 11th of March. Grapes were harvested between 24 and 25°B with a total acid of 6.5-7 g/l and a pH of 3.4.

Aged for 14 months in 2% new and the balance in older French puncheons of 500ℓ capacity.

Hand-picked, 25% was whole bunch fermented, 30% fermented with stems and the remainder was whole berry fermented in open top fermenters. Malolactic fermentation in French oak puncheons.