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Keermont Syrah 2017

ID No: 450312
Country:South Africa
Region:Stellenbosch
Winery:Keermont Vineyards
Grape Type:Syrah
Organic:Yes
Vintage:2017
Bottle Size:750 ml
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Avennia Le Corbeau Syrah 2017

Named after the French word for Crow, or Raven, this Syrah is certainly as dark as the name implies. Hailing from Discovery Vineyard, perched high above the Columbia River in the heart of the Horse Heaven Hills, these grapes were grown in a very unique terroir. Avennia's approach of old-world style, minimalist winemaking allows for full expression of the fruit, showcasing the elegant and savory side of Syrah.

"Leads with a nice balance of dark fruits—blackberry and blueberry—with more savory elements, including blackberry leaf, olive, charcuterie, and a hint of shiitake. The palate features snappy fresh black fruits, a hint of smoked meat, and a lively finish with plenty of savory elements that make this wine quite interesting. Give it a year in the cellar and enjoy over the next eight years or so." - Chris Peterson, Winemaker

Review:

The last vintage for this cuvée, the 2017 Syrah Le Corbeau Discovery Vineyard is similar in style to the Arnaut yet offers slightly more floral notes in its blue fruits, wild strawberry, violets, rose petal, and sappy, forest floor aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, with bright acidity and good balance, it’s a beautiful Syrah that leans heavily toward the fresh, elegant end of the spectrum while still offering tons of character and pleasure. Winemaker Chris Peterson continues to fashion some of the most impressive wines in the State. These are always more classical in style and show plenty of acidity and structure in their youth, yet they blossom with just short term cellaring and are brilliant wines.

Native fermented and aged in neutral oak, this wine has intoxicating, piercingly pure aromas of blueberry compote, sage and leaf that lead to an elegant palate showing a sense of refinement. Smoked meat notes linger on the finish. It's a captivating example of the variety and appellation, revealing a sense of purity, delicacy and class.

The 2017 Le Corbeau Discovery Vineyard Syrah has a black-fruited core, exuding rich focus and a dusty rockiness. On the palate, this is not as savory as the Arnaut Syrah, but it still possesses a bold and expressive structure with good mineral tension. The wine expands with precision and complexity on the long-lingering finish. Only 150 cases were produced.

 Vinous Antonio Galloni: 92 Wine Advocate: 91 Wine Enthusiast: 92 94 Points
Kershaw Syrah Deconstructed Lake District Cartref SH22 2017

Kershaw Syrah Deconstructed Lake District Cartref SH22 is made from 100 percent Syrah.

The inspiration for this Syrah stems from my belief that the Elgin region has both a signature grape as well as particular terroirs within its demarcated boundary that reflect regional credentials. This Syrah was selected from a sub-region of Elgin from a specific vineyard and an individual clone.

Sourced from a single parcel in the Western part of Elgin, the 22 clone produces fuller, well-colored yet finely structured wines. They tend to be more concentrated as yields are low with more black fruit, black pepper and meaty notes. The Cartref soils, a mixture of decomposed sandstone, pebbles and quartz, add gracefulness and heighten the fruit intensity.

The grapes were handpicked under autumnal skies into small lug baskets and then manually sorted on a conveyor before the stems were removed. The destemmed berries fell onto a vibrating table in order to remove jacks and substandard berries before dropping uncrushed into a small 500kg conical hopper and forklifted into open-topped fermenters. The grapes underwent a 3-day maceration before spontaneous fermentation began. A gentle pigeage (punch-down of the cap) program was charted and the grapes remained on skins for 26 days. The wine was then racked to barrel under gravity and the remaining pomace basket-pressed. Malolactic then proceeded in barrel followed by a light sulfuring and 17-month maturation. No finings were necessary and the wine was simply racked and bottled unfiltered.

Review:

For reports and full tasting notes, go toTim Atkin MW's website.

The 2017 Kershaw Deconstructed Lake District Cartref SH22, matured 50% in new oak for 17 months, is a little more open on the nose compared to the SH9c and delivers a touch more red berry fruit, quite candied in style and suggesting strawberry pastilles. The palate is medium-bodied with a saline entry, fine definition and a mélange of red and black fruit laced with licorice toward the poised finish. Excellent.- Neal Martin

 Vinous Antonio Galloni: 93 95 Points
Domaine du Colombier Hermitage Rouge 2017

Domaine du Colombier Hermitage Rouge is made from 100 percent Syrah. 

Perfect with beef ribs, grilled meats and cheese.

Manually harvested with destemmed grapes and fermented for about 2 to 3 weeks in temperature controlled vats, with an ageing period of 12 months, 65% in oak barrels and 35% in concrete tanks.


Review:

From the 2017 vintage, the Viales bottled a single tonneau of 2017 Hermitage* in a heavy bottle; the label is otherwise identical to the regular bottling. This is riper and darker-fruited, with notes of cassis and blackberry rather than red berries. Full-bodied, expansive and powerful, it's also richly tannic and in need of cellaring. It's like the volume has been turned up to 11 but without any sense of distortion.

Brought up in 30% new demi-muids, with the balance in used barrels, the 2017 Hermitage is beautifully pure and layered, with smoking good notes of crème de cassis, white flowers, crushed rocks, and violets. Deep, full-bodied, and concentrated on the palate, it has plenty of tannins and is going to need 5-7 years of bottle age. This is a sensational Hermitage from Colombier that will drink well for 25+ years. These wines are made by the talented Florent Viale and shine for their purity as well as character. While the winemaking here is traditional, with the wines destemmed and brought up mostly in used demi-muids, the purity of fruit can give the impression that wines are more modern styled than they are. They will all benefit from short-term cellaring.

Crisp blackberry and black-currant aromas are accentuated by savory bramble and smoked meat in this wine. It's tightly wound in youth but the concentrated black-fruit flavor and fine, firm tannins should open and meld with time. A beautiful wine already, lifted by a firm, cooling minerality, it will continue to improve through 2035 and hold longer still.

Deep, brilliant violet. Powerful, mineral- and smoke-tinged black and blue fruits, potpourri and incense aromas pick up a spicy nuance as the wine opens up. Densely packed cherry, cassis and blueberry flavors show excellent clarity and building energy. Finishes impressively long and spicy, with youthfully gripping tannins and a suave, lingering candied violet quality. This is a rare bottling, from a single barrique, that is available at a single retailer in France.

 Wine Advocate: 96 Wine Enthusiast: 95 96 Points
Force Majeure Parvata 2017

Force Majeure Parvata is made from 69% Mourvedre, 21% Syrah, 10% Grenache (2016) / 43% Mourvedre, 25% Grenache, 23% Syrah, 4% Cinsault, 5% Counoise

Parvata means “mountain” in sanskrit, and is the name for this southern Rhône-inspired blend, grown mostly in the sandy, loamy soils of the lower section of the Red Mountain vineyard, which bring to the wine a good degree of finesse and high-toned aromatic notes, white pepper, dried herbs and grapefruit peel.

Review:

Another great vintage for this cuvée, which was first released in 2015, the 2017 Parvata is based on 43% Mourvèdre, 25% Grenache, 25% Syrah, and the rest Counoise and Cinsault. It’s a powerful, backward effort (not surprising, given the high Mourvèdre content) and offers lots of bloody, iron-laced blue fruits, violets, incense, herbes de Provence, and peppery spices on the nose. These carry to a full-bodied red that has beautiful fruit, terrific overall balance, and building yet ripe tannins. It’s terrific, but it needs 3-4 years of bottle age, at which point it’s going to evolve for at least a decade.

The 2017 Parvata is a blend of Mourvèdre, Grenache and Syrah that shows precision, focus and mineral tension, along with a core of red fruit tones, including wild strawberry, dark cherry and spiced red plums. Medium to full-bodied and clean on the palate, the wine has soft red spices and structured grainy tannins, with subtle oak spices on the correct and expressive finish. Showing well now, this wine is slated to be released in 2020. Only 420 cases made.

 Wine Advocate: 95 95 Points
Klipsun Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain 2017

Klipsun Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain is made from 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 4% Malbec and 8% Syrah.

The 2017 vintage started out with a cool, wet winter, with significantly above average snowfall in eastern Washington. Red Mountain had a 24% increase in rainfall in 2017 over the 10 year average. Going into spring, the cool trend continued. As a result, bud break at Klipsun was behind the historical average and significantly behind the most recent warm vintages of 2013 2016. Bloom was also slightly delayed. Because of the cool weather, set was lighter than usual which translated into significantly less fruit in 2017.

The early part of the summer saw average temperatures followed by above average temperatures in July and August. As a result, he at accumulation was a bit above average for the season, despite the cool start. And because of the smaller than normal yield, harvest began right on schedule, perhaps even a bit early for some of the whites. In the second half of September, when Klipsun traditionally harvests all the reds, the temperatures cooled considerably, which delayed ripening. This allowed for luxurious amounts of hang time without the threat of increased sugar accumulation, stretching harvest into the first week of October. A s a result, all fruit going into the 2017 Klipsun Cabernet Sauvignon could be picked at perfect sugars levels with great fruit maturity and flavors. Overall, the quality of t he 2017 harvest is as high as the 2016. However, the style is slightly different. The 2017 wine has a firmer structure, more spice & mocha in the nose and will take a few mo re years than the 2016 to reach a perfect balance between fruit and tannin.

Review:

The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain is composed of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Merlot, 4% Malbec and 8% Syrah, which immediately emanates with aromas of dark roasted espresso bean, toasted oak, dried tobacco and dusty black fruit tones of cassis, currant and blackberries covered in dark cocoa powder. Full-bodied, generous in complexity and still tight in the mouth, the wine unpacks layers of cedar and vanilla tones with dusty purple flowers and bitter dark chocolate across the mid-palate, giving way to fine-grained tannins that will loosen with time. As the wine sits on the palate, the 100% French oak regimen is on full display for all to see. The wine lingering long and continues to evolve in the mouth, ending with a drying finish that highlights the oak and terroir. It’s still a baby, and I would keep it in the cellar for another few years before popping the cork—this will effortlessly coast for more than a decade. The 2017 vintage marks the second release of this wine, with 6,300 bottles produced. It comes from its namesake vineyard, first planted in 1984 on Red Mountain. I’m keeping my eye on this producer. I’m impressed, and even though the oak may be a bit much at the moment, it's still delicious. - Wine Advocate 94+ Points

I don't think the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Klipsun Vineyard matches the brilliant 2016, but it's not far off, offering a terrific bouquet of blackcurrants, scorched earth, chocolate, tobacco, and lead pencil. With its medium to full-bodied richness, present yet ripe tannins, and obvious sense of minerality on the finish, it would pass undetected in a lineup of top wines from the Médoc. It's terrific today, yet given its balance, purity, and structure, it's going to evolve for 20 years or more.

 Wine Advocate: 94 94 Points
Long Shadows Chester Kidder 2017

Long Shadows Chester Kidder is made from 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 15% Petit Verdot

Allen Shoup named this wine in honor of his mother, Elizabeth Chester, and his grandmother, Maggie Kidder. He selected Long Shadows' director of winemaking and viticulture, Gilles Nicault, to craft this New World blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and other classic Bordeaux varieties.

Select Cabernet Sauvignon lots underwent an extended maceration of 40 days to produce supple yet firm tannins that stand up to 30 months of barrel aging in tight-grained French oak barrels (85% new).  The extra time in barrel helped to integrate the fruit, enhance the mid-palate with an extra layer of complexity, and provide an appealing earthiness to the finish.

Deep and dark in color with an intensely aromatic profile of blackberry jam, sweet spice, dark chocolate and hints of earth.  Dark cherry and subtle oak flavors integrate nicely to create an enticing layer that adds complexity and depth.  Its firm structure, yet refined texture, balances well with a vibrancy that extends throughout a lengthy finish.


Review:

The Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated 2017 Chester Kidder is another more closed, reserved wine that's loaded with potential. Cassis, toasted spices, violets, and leafy herb notes give way to a rich, full-bodied red that has ripe, velvety tannins, a rounded, mouth-filling texture, and one heck of a great finish. Give bottles 3-5 years if you can and it should be very long lived.

 Vinous Antonio Galloni: 92 93 Points
Product Description

This is an intense wine with a bright scarlet colour. Pure grapey aromas are complimented by red spices with some herbal and lavender notes. The palate is full and juicy, packed with ripe fruit and spice. The tight structure gives the wine a succulent finish with lingering flavours of anise, liquorice and a mineral saltiness. Drink 2013-2023.


 

Review:

Topside is all made with the 470 clone and hails from a single vineyard with a westerly aspect that sees very little sunshine in the mornings. Denser and firmer than its stablemate Steepside, this a dark, inky, brooding Syrah with fig, damson and Asian spice flavours and lots of stony grip. 2025-35

The 2017 Syrah Single Vineyard Series Topside is slightly brighter and more vivid on the nose compared to the Steepside with red cherries, crushed strawberry and just a light dab of dark chocolate. The oak is neatly integrated here. The palate is medium-bodied with a fleshy opening, very well balanced with a judicious touch of white pepper that becomes more prominent on the finish. - Neal Martin

Aromas of red cherry, wet stone and crushed thyme. Medium-bodied with silky, slightly tight tannins. Subtle and nuanced, with nice transparency and clarity. Crunchy and lingering. Drink now.

Winery: Keermont Vineyards

The Keermont Estate and Vineyards

Located just beyond Stellenbosch, Keermont Vineyards is nestled in farm land in the beautiful valleys of South Africa. Keermont uses their name to honor the former farm, Keerweder, that once occupied their land. The word “keerweder” means a dead end in a valley. The literal translation is “blocked again”, which is in reference to the early settlers being blocked by the terrain when trying to pass through the valley.

The Keermont winery building and vineyards actually lie in the shadow of Guardian Peak, or “Suurberg”. This location is ideal for Keermont, as the fruit on this mountain is often compared to the grapes of Napa Valley’s famous Howell Mountain AVA.

In 1694, Jan Jac Van Dyk founded the land in the Blaawklippen Valley that is the location of present day Keermont. Other wineries such as Waterford, Dornier, and Stellenzicht are also on the land once owned by Van Dyk. The earliest account of a European landowner utilizing the area for agricultural use are Van Dyk’s records. Afterwards, the potential and beauty of the Blaawklippen Valley attracted many other landowners to the area and the land was divided into individual farms.

Mark and Monica Wraith bought into this land by purchasing the Fleurfontein and Keerweder III farms in 2003. They combined the two farms into the Keermont Vineyards Estate. The couple still live on the Keermont land with their family. Alex Starey is the Keermont winemaker. In 2005, Keermont began a major vineyard planting program and it now holds 27 ha under vine. In 2007, Keermont releases its first vintage, from a crop of only 5 barrels or 108 cases. In 2010, the physical Keermont winery building, complete with offices, processing facilities, barrel rooms, and a tasting room, was converted from the former spring water bottling plant that had once resided on the Fleurfontein farm. The total farm acreage for Keermont Vineyards is 157 hectares or 388 acres, with 27 hectares under vine. 18 hectares produce red varietals such as Cabernet Savignon, Merlot, and Syrah. 9 hectares hold the white varietals like Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, and Viognier. Keermont also boasts Chenin Blanc vines that are over forty years old and used by De Trafford winery. Keermont aims to create wines that reflect their beautiful land and the particular year’s vintage condition. Keermont focuses on using minimal chemical fertilizers, few pesticides, and irrigate as little as possible. No fining or filtration is practiced on the Keermont Estate. Keermont desires a natural, harmonious vineyard that will in the long run produce better quality wines.

 

The goal of this estate is to make superior blends. The wines to be produced, but not written in stone, are:
Keermont Red – 40 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 20% Syrah.
Keermont White – 70% Chenin Blanc, 30% Viognier and Chardonnay
Dessert wine in exceptional vintages

Keermont Syrah – Syrah, Mourvedre, Viognier

 

Some wines from Keermont Winery:

  • Keermont Red Blend
  • Keermont Syrah
  • Keermont White Blend Terrasse

Any Keermont wines we have in stock are listed below, if you don’t see the wine you are looking for please don’t hesitate to ask for it.

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