Of the two wines, the Syrah had me most concerned.

I hadn’t fallen in love with it when we tasted the first samples. Spoiler alert…it’s now my favourite of the two. I chilled this for 3 hours before having a chance to taste it at 11pm. You can read more about why I was tasting wines at 11pm on a Monday night, as well as find out about the Chenin Blanc here.

The Wine:

Medium ruby – we’ll check that in the morning but I can’t imagine it being anything else. After three hours in the fridge, the nose is really good…it smells lekker. Or in wine speak: medium nose of blackberries, oyster sauce, biltong, olive tapenade, and there is black pepper.

Cha ching – we have a Syrah!

Dry, medium+ bodied, noticeable dusty tannins now that it’s been chilled, medium+ acidity. There’s some saltiness to this as well…to go along with the beetroot, blueberries, blackberries, fynbos/thyme, dry earth. Weird thing – my gran used to soak raisins in gin and claim that it ‘helped her arthritis’…there’s some of that gin soaked raisin farce to this…especially in the medium finish. I’m going to add raspberries…there is a lift of red fruit in there….I suspect it’s being hidden by the chill.

Vini + Viti:

Chenin Blanc dryland farmed in the Swartland. Fermentation in stainless steel tanks. No oak. Post fermentation skin maceration to add complexity and mouthfeel.

Conclusion:

Balance (1) + Length (½) + Intensity (1) + Complexity (½)  = A good wine 

Drink now, not really designed for further ageing…but it could age for a while.

Final thoughts: 

Honestly, I was sceptical about the Syrah after first tasting it. It was fine. But it wasn’t as memorable as the Chenin. I’ll taste this again in the morning…but the Syrah has overtaken the Chenin. I would happily drink this any day. And I’m happy I purchased a few bottles to pop into the fridge to cool me down on these warm, muggy days.

Again…now that my glass is empty and there is no chance of me pouring another glass at 11pm on a school night…the finish is lingering a little longer than the ‘medium’ that I gave it.

I’m going to compare these tomorrow to the original samples from a few months ago and see whether there’s an actual difference…or whether the difference lies in how much of this wine I now own. Eish! I’m happy to drink plenty of this wine for a long time to come, but do a girl a solid and help me get through them? Please?

Read my Kunye Chenin Blanc 2019 review.

Find the Wine:

www.thewinewise.co.za or order the wines directly from  www.darlingwine.co.za