Since its inaugural 2010 vintage – made the same year as the first, pivotal Swartland Revolution – Porseleinberg has joined the ranks of the world’s greatest syrahs and in so doing has put South Africa firmly on the map for lovers of this wild, wonderful grape.
Today sees the release of the latest vintage: the generous and beautifully expressive 2024.
Order by midday Thursday 10th September
This is in fact the 16th vintage that Marc Kent, the visionary behind Boekenhoutskloof, has produced from Porseleinberg but just the 14th released; Marc made the 2009 vintage (from a single ton of fruit) for the Cape Winemaker’s Guild, so it was only ever available on auction, and the 2011 was never released commercially due to the tiny production in this heatwave year.
With its mighty tannic presence and inherent savouriness, its incredible perfume and long ageing potential, comparisons with the northern Rhône are inevitable here – most often with Cornas or Côte-Rôtie – but ultimately this is a distinctly and proudly Swartland syrah, that to me evokes its own very specific place.
Porseleinberg the wine is named after the remote, seriously schisty hilltop on which the vineyard sits, south of Riebeek-Kasteel. Callie Louw lived, farmed the vines and made the wine here from 2010 to 2025, appointed by Marc Kent. Well off the beaten track, the site feels remote and raw even in the context of the rough-around-the-edges Swartland. As Callie has said to me more than once, it is ‘hardcore’ – literally – comprising 80% rock with very little topsoil.
The syrah it yields is a wine I have followed closely over the years. I am probably a little obsessed – certainly endlessly fascinated – by this captivating shapeshifter of a wine. Two years ago, I organised a vertical tasting of 2010 to 2021 for friends and the wines blew us all away, with us vowing to repeat the event in another few years, adding in the latest vintages of course. It’s a wine I’m excited to drink in the future and watch it unfold in ways that undoubtedly will surprise me.
I first tasted the new 2024 vintage in June last year, just after it had been bottled, and yet was straightaway struck by a certain immediacy and easy charm to the aromatics, as well as the fruit succulence and texture on the palate. 2024 was probably the quickest the team had ever harvested (a characteristic of this vintage), with them starting to pick on the 2nd February and filling the cellar in 10 days! A warmer year than 2023, there was however good rainfall in the winter preceding harvest and in many ways, it felt like a similar vintage to the spectacular 2018, but with moisture. I tasted again in February of this year and again just yesterday, at an event Marc held in London, which comprised a mini-vertical kicked off with the unicorn 2009 vintage.
My tasting note for the wine is therefore an amalgam of my three interactions with Porseleinberg 2024 thus far and I am excited to give you the opportunity to reserve it today.
