Sons of Sugarland Syrah 2022

This is the highest parcel of this ocean-facing vineyard that gets rammed by the cool breezes. Reenen’s goal with this wine is to make it as raw as possible but still with a pretty side. In a very short time this has risen to Syrah royalty in South Africa alongside Reenen’s ‘Epilogue’. The fruit was hand-harvested in one morning and brought back to the winery where the fruit was placed into a concrete fermenter. Fermentation kicked off naturally with the juice on the skins and stems, and continued for 10 days. The lot was pressed to a 15hL concrete egg with gross lees intact and left to age for 10 months. It was bottled without fining or filtration and just a small addition of sulfur.

Sons of Sugarland has been taken on as a Patatsfontein brand, as Reenen uses this to shine a light on distinctive single vineyards in the cool, decomposed granite soils of the Polkadraai Hills. The Syrah has found favour as one of the most exciting in the country – a product of 100% whole bunches and solely concrete vinification and aging. More varieties and distinctive vineyards are expected to join the Sons of Sugarland project in due course.