Torero and Pasiphaë Syrah

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

At Rueda Wine Co. our focus lies in sourcing and procuring some of the rarest and most sought-after wines from around the world. Specialising primarily in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and South Africa. We represent local producers such Angus Paul Wines, Naude Family Wines and Sakkie Mouton Family Wines. Alongside our wine offering, we provide state-of-the-art cellaring services to our clients. Our cellars are fully temperature and humidity controlled at 14 degrees Celsius, with retrievable and transparent cellaring data.

This Stellenbosch Syrah vineyard located on Karibib has very quickly risen into significance as it produces some of the best Syrah in the country - perpetually covered in clouds, the vineyard sits at the top of Karibib against a strip of fynbos, 300m above sea level. The vines lie in coarse decomposed Polkadraai granite, high in quartz silicate which makes for fast draining soils and concentrated grapes - characteristically peppery, filled with herbal aromatics such as juniper, thyme, lavender and violets. The vineyard lies on a steep east facing slope – the only in the region - which reduces afternoon sunlight to a minimum. The sight has a comparative solar radiation level to that of the Cote Rotie.

The wine was bottled on the 16th December 2022 after spending approximately 10 months in barrel.

Grapes are handpicked and cooled overnight, the following morning the grapes were placed in an open-top bin to ferment. 100% of the grapes were kept whole-bunch and crushed in the traditional foot-stomping method. Fermentation and maceration took place over 10 days, with one pump-over per day taking place to sustain cap health, not to extract further. After fermentation the wine was replaced into old 500L French oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation was spontaneous and in Autumn the wine was sulphured for the first time.