DMZ Syrah
£14.99
£19.99 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
Only 5 bottles left
89Wine Enthusiast
Stellenbosch Syrah with personality and polish, from a producer who pipes Baroque music through the vineyards day and night. Expect ripe red plum, a flicker of white pepper and gentle floral lift, all wrapped in supple French oak. A serious bottle at a weeknight price, and the kind of discovery that makes you look clever at the dinner table.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
Our Verdict
We keep coming back to DMZ because it does the rare thing of feeling effortless. There's no straining for power, no overripe excess, just a properly fragrant, properly spiced Stellenbosch Syrah at a price that genuinely surprises us every time we restock. It's the bottle we reach for when someone says they want to try South African red without committing to a £30 statement wine. Easy with food, generous on its own, and quietly characterful. A confident introduction to DeMorgenzon's house style, and a wine we're always happy to recommend.
Tasting Notes
A deep purple core hints at what's coming. The nose lifts with ripe red plum and dark berries, threaded through with white pepper and softer floral notes, violets, lavender, a touch of spring blossom. On the palate, dark fruit takes the lead, joined by warm baking spice: cinnamon, clove, and a whisper of vanilla from gentle oak. The finish is supple and savoury, with fine tannins that frame rather than dominate. Genuine Cape Syrah character, fragrant, spicy, and quietly serious.
About This Wine
Some wines try to impress you. This one just gets on with it. From DeMorgenzon, perched high in the Stellenboschkloof Valley where the morning sun arrives first, comes a Syrah that punches well above its price tag, and has a backstory you won't forget in a hurry. The estate is famous for piping Baroque music through its vineyards and cellars, around the clock, on the theory that sound waves nudge the vines toward better health. Eccentric? Perhaps. But there's nothing eccentric about what ends up in the glass. A deep, purple-cored Syrah with 3% Viognier woven in for lift, grown on weathered granite soils that give the wine its natural exuberance. On the nose: ripe red plum and dark berry, a flicker of white pepper, and floral whispers of violet and lavender sitting just behind the fruit. The palate follows through with darker fruit, sweet baking spice, cinnamon, clove, a touch of vanilla, and tannins that frame everything without ever pushing too hard. Twelve months across French oak barrels, large foudres and cement tanks gives it shape without heaviness. Pour it with a lamb shank, a pepper-crusted ribeye, or slow-braised oxtail. It's also a brilliant gift for anyone curious about what Stellenbosch can do beyond Cabernet, delivered to your door anywhere in the UK.
Food Pairing
This is a Sunday lunch wine through and through. The peppery edge and supple tannins love grilled or slow-roasted lamb, especially with rosemary and garlic. Try it with a proper beef stew, sticky pork ribs, or a charcoal-grilled ribeye. For something lighter, a mushroom risotto or aged Gouda works beautifully, the savoury notes bring out the wine's spice.
- —Slow-roasted lamb shoulder with rosemary and garlic
- —Charcoal-grilled ribeye with peppercorn sauce
- —Sticky slow-cooked pork ribs
- —Wild mushroom and thyme risotto
- —Mature Gouda with quince paste
How to Serve
Decanting
A short decant of thirty to forty-five minutes really opens this up. The floral notes lift, the white pepper sharpens, and the framing tannins soften into something altogether more generous.
Ageing & Cellaring
Drinks beautifully on release, but has the structure to reward five to seven years in the cellar. Expect the fruit to settle, the pepper to deepen into something more savoury, and the tannins to soften into silk. No rush either way.
The Land
The DMZ vineyards sit on mostly weathered granite, old, free-draining soils that force the vines to work for their water and reward you with wines of natural energy and youthful drive. Combined with the valley's high aspect and morning sun, it's a recipe for Syrah with bright fruit and real backbone.
The Winemaking
Hand-harvested fruit goes into stainless steel, with a portion of whole bunches kept in the mix for added lift and perfume. Fermentation kicks off spontaneously with the vineyard's own yeasts, the temperature held between a measured 22 and 27 degrees, and gentle punch-downs coax colour and tannin from the skins without bruising the fruit. After malolactic, the wine settles into a thoughtful mix of small French oak barrels, large 3000-litre foudres and cement tanks for twelve months, oak as seasoning, never disguise.
About the Producer
De Morgenzon
DeMorgenzon means "the morning sun", and the name isn't just poetic branding. The estate sits high in the Stellenboschkloof valley, angled to catch the first light of day before anywhere else in the valley, and that position shapes everything about how the wines taste. Wendy and Hylton Appelbaum bought the property in 2003 and set about turning it into what they call a garden vineyard: 91 hectares farmed with as much attention to wildflowers, biodiversity and soil health as to the vines themselves.
The detail that tends to stop people in their tracks is the music. Since 2008, Baroque compositions have played through speakers set among the vines, day and night, on the belief that the sound waves benefit vine health and grape development. It sounds unlikely until you taste the wines, which have a clarity and precision that's hard to argue with. Whether it's the music, the site, or simply meticulous farming, something here is working.
The winemaking has been shaped by serious hands. Chenin specialist Teddy Hall helped define the estate's white wine style, while Adi Badenhorst brought his expertise to the reds, and Wendy Appelbaum, who owns and chairs the estate, has kept quality and consistency at the centre of every decision. Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay are what DeMorgenzon is best known for among South African wine specialists, wines with real texture and restraint rather than showy fruit.
We stock DeMorgenzon because the DMZ range makes this level of thinking accessible. The Chenin Blanc carries real Stellenboschkloof character at an everyday price, the Syrah shows the estate's savoury, structured style in red form, and the Rosé, made from Shiraz, is a proper food wine rather than a poolside afterthought. For UK drinkers curious about what happens when serious farming meets serious winemaking, without the serious price tag, DMZ is a genuinely useful place to start.