2022 Porseleinberg
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Tasting notes
The 2022 vintage offered a cool winter with plenty of rainfall (477mm) and minimal disease pressure. From the first week of January, the weather shifted drastically: in Callie Louw’s words, “It was f***ing hot.” The extreme heat slowed the vines’ ripening, meaning Louw and his team harvested over almost a full month – from 14th February through to 10th March, and decent yields of around 36hl/ha. Even with the property’s latest harvest ever, the wine is also the lowest-alcohol vintage so far at 13.3%. All whole-bunch fermented, largely with a submerged cap, but also a small portion of conventional ferments, it was aged around 90% in foudre with 10% concrete egg. The resulting wine offers a nose of violet florals, white pepper spice and a stemmy, herbaceous edge – all layered over typically brooding, dark bramble fruit. The palate is gloriously pure and fresh – full of bright, juicy red cherry fruit. The tightly packed, savoury tannins bring additional freshness – a mineral, saline line structure that frames the vivid fruit. The bite of crunchy red fruit shifts to something darker, with a hint of game on the stony, schistous finish. A serious wine that will evolve beautifully over the next two decades, at least.
Critic scores
Average Score
Tim Atkin MW
Neal Martin, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Produced in the teeth of what Callie Louw calls a "crazy year", with lots of winter rain and one of the hottest Januaries ever, this is the latest in a series of world-class Syrahs from the brilliant Callie Louw. Fermented and aged in foudres and 15% concrete, using the submerged cap technique that has transformed the style here, this has 95% whole bunches, fynbos and Mediterranean herb aromas, sculpted, detailed tannins and layers of plum, blackberry and raspberry and impressive freshness for a wine with a pH of 4.1. A refined wine from a brutal site.
The 2022 Porseleinberg was macerated with about 70% submerged cap and 30% pump-over. It was matured 85% in foudres and 15% in concrete vats for 12 months, then an additional six months in bottle. It presents a deep ruby color. The bouquet takes time to open in the glass, revealing blackberry and touches of cassis, crushed violets and a judicious dash of balsamic. There’s wonderful delineation, but it opens very, very slowly. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, more structured than the 2021. White-pepper-tinged red fruit mixes with subtle menthol notes on the peacock's tail of a finish. Winemaker Callie Louw describes this as a mixture of old and recent Porseleinberg, and I can see that. It’s a spellbinding Syrah that will require five or six years in bottle, but it will certainly be worth the wait. Callie Louw revealed his passion for breeding cattle in the time when he is not crafting one of the Cape’s finest Syrah. “The 2022 vintage had an amazing start,” he told me when I visited his winery, which is truly in the middle of nowhere. “For the first time since 2015, we had above-average rainfall (475mm), and it rained throughout winter with decent spells during the growing season. There was nothing that encouraged rot, just showery. The canopies were amazing. Then, on January 1, the sun shone, and we got heat all the way to February 14 until March 10, the latest that I’ve picked. But it has the lowest alcohol at 13.3%. It is a vintage that is difficult to understand.” A fantastic wine, this Syrah is a benchmark for South Africa, one that benefits from several years in bottle. Readers should refer to my vertical tasting from earlier this year.
About the producer
Porseleinberg is a single-site Syrah from the Swartland that has, since its first vintage in 2010, become one of South Africa’s most celebrated and sought-after wines. Made by cult winemaker Callie Louw from incredibly poor soils on the slopes of the Porseleinberg, the wine is rightfully revered.