Here's a wine that quietly outclasses bottles costing twice as much. Boekenhoutskloof made its name on Cabernet, but their Syrah is where the real obsessives go, and once you taste it you'll understand why. This is South African Shiraz at its most serious and most thrilling.
The fruit comes from two Swartland farms near the little town of Riebeek-Kasteel: the bulk from Porseleinberg, with its brutally hard, rocky mica-schist bedrock, and a touch from Goldmine on the slopes of the Kasteelberg. That stony, low-yielding terroir gives a wine of real concentration and tension. Expect dark plum and blueberry, a lift of violets, then black pepper, liquorice and anise unfolding into something savoury, almost iron and tar-like. The tannins are plush, the acidity vibrant, and a charry, tobacco-scented finish lingers long after the glass is empty.
Much of the fruit is fermented as whole bunches in concrete tulip tanks, then aged for up to 18 months in large Austrian oak foudres rather than small new barrels, so the oak whispers rather than shouts. Decant a young bottle for half an hour and pour it with a slow-roasted shoulder of lamb, a peppered ribeye, or a mushroom and thyme risotto.
It cellars beautifully for a decade or more, which makes it a properly considered gift for anyone who takes wine seriously. Delivered to your door anywhere in the UK.
