Kershaw Elgin Syrah Clonal Selection Elgin, 2017

An ethereal wine, relatively light in body yet intense and complex in flavour. Produced from two Syrah clones – SH9c and SH22 – cultivated in five small parcels in Elgin. Intense aromas of incense, dark chocolate and gingerbread spices mix with plums and fresh grass. It is supple with good mid palate weight and flavours of cooked plums, red cherries and chocolate leading to a long spicy finish. A year characterized by a cool winter allowing good vine dormancy and low rainfall. Flowering was a little earlier than usual, but cooler weather in December slowed things back down with these Syrah grapes harvested on March 20-24th, 2017. Grapes were picked by hand into small lug baskets, sorted and destemmed. These were then placed into a conical hopper and fed directly into open top fermenters. After a three-day maceration, fermentation started spontaneously with skins remaining in contact with the wine for 26 days, before transfer to barrel for malolactic and maturation for 17 months. Richard sources his barrels from a small number of artisanal coopers in Burgundy and Rhône, only using French oak with 45% of new oak.