An exquisite, appetising, cool-climate Syrah with alluring aromas of bay leaf, liquorice, toast, oak spice then red and black fruits. The palate is buoyant and spicy, with wonderfully integrated, grippy tannins and admirable length driven by fresh fruit and perky acidity (14.8%).
£14.99 Forth Wines, Inverarity Morton
IN A CLOSELY FOUGHT and high-quality final tasting, this cool-climate Syrah from South Africa’s southernmost tip pipped rivals from two more relatively new wine-growing areas – Chile’s northern Limarí Valley and Canberra in New South Wales – as well as the Faugères enclave of the Languedoc.
Grip, depth, warmth and vibrancy were just some of the qualities our judging panel admired in this wine, as well as a distinctly different Syrah character which owes much to where this single-vineyard wine originates.
Cape Agulhas is where the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean meet, a very cool area for growing grapes, but one that offers a rich assortment of soils. This combination was among the factors that led general manager Wayne Gabb to establish Lomond in the region in 1999, when he went south in search of a new challenge after previously farming fruit in Elgin.
Gabb was attracted not only by the rich diversity of soils on the Lomond site, but also by its proximity to the ocean, just 6km away. Dresden ferricrete soils dominate, with a very rocky, porous red character, restricting vigour and producing – in tandem with Syrah clone 21 and the skills of winemaker Kobus Gerber – a distinctive wine style that is characterised by pepper, oriental spices and rich, dark fruit.
Lomond is part of the Cape Legends portfolio, the fine wine division of South Africa’s largest wine and spirits company, Distell. It is no stranger to DWWA success, with the 2011 vintage of this wine winning Gold in the past two years of the competiton.
Lomond’s winemaker Kobus Gerber
Tasted against
Ollier-Taillefer, Grande Réserve, Faugères, Languedoc-Roussillon, France 2012 • McWilliam’s, Syrah, Canberra District, New South Wales, Australia 2013 • Tamaya, Reserva Syrah, Limarí Valley, Chile 2013.
General manager/viticulturist Wayne Gabb
