Porseleinberg

Porseleinberg

"Porseleinberg rapidly became the Cape’s benchmark Syrah, inspired by Côte-Rôtie and to my mind, Jamet’s style of winemaking"

- Neal Martin, Vinous 

Porseleinberg of Swartland produces world-class Syrah in South Africa. Founded by Mark Kent of Boekenhoutskloof whilst sourcing fruit for his other ventures, Kent instantly saw the potential of the schist soils of the Porseleinberg Mountains. Rumour has it that the grapes grown on the farm that Kent purchased used to go into making early vintages of Eben Sadie’s legendary Columella.

Callie Louw oversees both the winemaking and viticulture at Porseleinberg which is run independently from Kent’s other wineries. Callie Louw is a classic vigneron living amongst the vines believing that the vineyard makes great wines. His technique of whole bunch fermentation using a submerged cap technique that he saw whilst visiting the Rhone valley. A portion in aged concrete eggs/vats and some in foudres creates a wine with an old-world swagger that’s both aromatic on the nose with floral and white peppery notes, as well as being beautifully defined with great energy on the palate.

The winery has quickly grown to fame with Tim Atkin MW classing the winery as a First Growth of South Africa, as well as the 2018 vintage, which received the coveted 100-point score. Tasting Porseleinberg blind you, guesses tend to lean towards Cote-Rotie as a region, and often the producer name Domaine Jamet is thrown around with both Tim Atkin MW and Neal Martin referencing the estate in their notes.

Porseleinberg Swartland Syrah: