2015 Syrah Porseleinberg

Boekenhoutskloof is another of the few wineries of this scale that has undergone a lot of investment in recent years. I took a brief look at their barrel cellar, accessed through a long tunnel with winemaker Gottfied Mokke. “The first bottling that was done in the new cellar was the 2015,” he told me as I surveyed row upon row of barrels and several tiers high. “They are based on the OXO(2) revolving system so they don’t have to be moved to be racked. This has enabled us to shorten the élevage. The wines used to spend longer time in oak, but it has been shortened from 24 to 18 months. We installed a new bottling line with longer, 54mm corks as there is more emphasis on bottle maturation.” Like many in the Cape, they added more strings to the arrow by installing various vessels for fermentation. “We moved all the fermentation vats to concrete so that the size corresponds to one pressing so we can vinify parcel by parcel. With respect to the Syrah we no longer use barriques, but only 2500-litre Stockinger foudres and 600-litre barrels. Also, we now do not add SO2 after malolactic, instead keep the wine at low temperatures to maintain freshness. We want to retain more tension and purity and impart a fresh aspect to each variety.” Boekenhoutskloof has certainly changed in terms of style in recent vintages, for the better in my opinion, as there were occasions when I felt that the wines were too heavy, a little over-egged in the winery with long periods in oak. Nowhere is that change more evident than in the hugely successful “The Chocolate Block”, whose source has relocated from various regions to only Swartland. In fact, when I discus this excellent wine with owner Mark Kent, I tell him how the style of the wine no longer reflects the images that the name evokes.