Syrah Paulée Case

Boekenhoutskloof Syrah is one of the finest – and most pivotal – syrahs of the Cape, and has the longest track record, with the inaugural 1997 vintage redefining what South African expressions of this grape could be. The 2016 was just the second year that the wine was Wine of Origin Swartland – and was cellarmaster Gottfried Mocke’s first vintage – with the fruit sourced (as it is today) from both the Porseleinberg (80%) and Goldmine (20%) vineyards. A season of extreme heatwaves, which turned out to be the first of a run of drought vintages, required green harvesting to minimise yields and reduce vine stress. A decade on, this is drinking beautifully, with delicious savoury character – cured meat and leathery development – emerging, interwoven with black plum, blackberry and warming spices. The tannins are seamless, with a silken-like feel and, defying the season perhaps, a wonderfully fresh seam of acidity runs through the wine. Tasted by our buyer twice in the last year, this is in perfect drinking territory now, offering that delicious interplay of both primary berry fruit and pepper, and the beginnings of tertiary flavours. Mid-weight, elegant and effortlessly balanced – there is a gentleness to this syrah’s demeanour – it has fantastic length and an almost salty finish.

Exquisite Côte-Rôtie from a high-performing estate in the northern part of the region. Two generations are at work here making polished wines of great expression and feel for terroir. Glorious. 2021–2030.

Always beautifully presented and well rounded, this is made from old vines on Stéphane Robert`s plots, including some 100-year-old syrah on Champelrose. Drink from 2025 to 2034. 14%

Always entirely whole-bunch fermented, this has a stunning fragrance, as ever – high-definition and super-charged, with the dial turned up on what is always an incredible spicy, peppery perfume. Expressing freshly ground white, black and pink pepper (but leading with white), red cherry, cranberry and raspberry leaf, this pulses with a raw, unfiltered energy. The palate delivers everything the nose promises and brings in a salty thread, with raspy, moreish, savoury tannins. There is a sandpaper-like feel to the tannin texture, reminiscent of sangiovese tannins in the finest expressions of that grape. Tangy and bright on the finish, this is a triumphant Sons of Sugarland. The best yet. It comes from ten or eleven syrah rows on the now famous Karibib farm in the Polkadraai Hills; select parcels on this farm, including the vines Reenen Borman works with, can be considered a grand cru of Stellenbosch Syrah.

An outstanding syrah from one of the world's top vineyard sites. Expressive, dark and ripe with hints of blackberry, tar and tapenade, this northern Rhône red is lovely now but will develop added complexity with further ageing. Produced for The Wine Society by the legendary Jean-Louis Chave, this Hermitage is a hidden gem. Low stock: Limited to three bottles per member.

Donovan Rall’s aim is that his concrete syrah ‘feeds’ his Ava Syrah, and this is definitely a more refined, polished expression of the remarkable schist site in the Swartland he now leases and farms for himself (and a few, select, superstar winemaking friends). With an instantly softer, more sumptuous perfume, leading with florals and dark cherries, the tannins, while still significant and dense, are coated in fruit and glide across the palate (a difference Donovan attributes to the foudre Ava is aged in, by contrast to concrete); there is movement and flow here, where there are edges in his concrete syrah. The wine pulses with an almost citrus-zest freshness and has so many intersecting flavours and levels: black and green olives and brine mingle with black cherry and raspberry fruit, violet, raw carpaccio and fennel-flecked salami, as well as fynbos and orange peel. Embryonic, kaleidoscopic and endlessly complex, with savoury, raspy, Italian-esque tannins.