2012 Syrah

Partner and co-owner Marc Kent has been venturing farther afield in recent years to buy prime vineyard land and initiate new ventures. The home base at the foot of Franschhoek's mountains is now farmed organically, and most of the original vines on the property have been replaced by Cabernet Franc, which does especially well in this cool spot. "For the first 15 years, we farmed grapes all over the Western Cape," Kent told me in April. "But it's dangerous to create brands based on other peoples' real estate." So Kent and his financial partners began purchasing properties in the exciting Swartland in 2009 (they own Porseleinberg) and now own 70 hectares of vines, with plans to grow to 130 in the next few years. Boekenhoutskloof also bought the old Helderberg co-op, where they make their very successful Porcupine Ridge wines as well as part of their Chocolate Block, a Syrah-based blend made in large quantities (over 35,000 cases annually). "Our wines used to be about power but they're more about elegance now, thanks in large part to the Porseleinberg fruit," said Kent.