Van Loggerenberg 'High Hopes' Syrah, Swartland 2021

Lukas van Loggerenberg is one of the latest generation of high flying young winemakers in The Cape. Encouraged by friend and mentor Chris Alheit amongst others, he took the plunge to go it alone, with the support of his wife Roxanne, releasing his first wines in the 2016 vintage. These tiny first releases met with immediate critical acclaim and both his reach and reputation have grown further since.

An extraordinarily modest and determined man - his Break a Leg cinsaut was named after just one of the harvest challenges he has faced in his short independent career - he makes his wines in an unglamorous farm shed on a Devon Valley hilltop. Grapes are sourced widely and nurtured, alongside the relationship with the growers on which so many independent winemakers depend, only to be left to express themselves fully by low intervention in the cellar. Each wine and label has its own back story.

We have been lucky enough to taste Lukas' wines from the start, initially in barrel, then bottles that were already gold dust, despite the fact that there simply wasn't enough for us to buy. A broader range and a little more volume in some cases meant we were able to buy in 2018 for the first time: 2017 Geronimo old vine cinsaut and the maiden 2017 Trust your Gut chenin blanc.