Provenance

Wine Cellar Private Client

Critics Ratings

2010:
'Very aromatic even when just poured. Round and sweet but not heavy and with a strong mineral element to it. Bone dry. Intense Syrah character and very long.' - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 17/20 (Sep 2023)

'Shows weight and cut, displaying a core of crushed plum, blackberry coulis and raspberry fruit flavors wrapped in singed bay leaf, mesquite and iron notes. Long, fleshy and mouthwatering, with persistent ferrous and woodsy accents. A serious new wine. Syrah. Drink now through 2018.' - James Molesworth, Wine Spectator, 93/100 (Jun 2013)

2011:
'Wow. This delivers a riveting display of singed anise, black tea, mulled blood orange and incense aromas, backed by a racy-edged core of dark cherry, raspberry and blackberry purée notes. Then everything pulls together on the graphite-edged finish and just smolders there for a while. On point right now, but no rush. Syrah.' - Wine Spectator, 94/100

'The oddball in this array of beauties. They were still learning how to cope with drought. Very deep blackish garnet. Meaty, concentrated nose. Powerful liquorice essence. Still a bit of tannin on the end. I suspect the tannin will outlast the fruit. But there is admirable fruit here too so I could be proved wrong.' - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 16.5/20 (Sep 2023)

2012:
'You'd expect a wine produced on this extreme, windblown site in the Swartland to be wild and unruly. But this is surprisingly elegant and subtle. Fermented entirely in concrete, it's floral and scented, with silky tannins, some pepper and a core of strawberry succulence on top of mineral, stony acidity. This will be released before the more backward 2011, but it's still a wine that will age well. A Cape classic in the making. - Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2014, 96/100

'Quite a subdued, dusty mineral nose with broody pithy black fruits, stony hints, dried fennel and sweet lavender. More elegant and loose knit on the palate, the tannins are supple, polished and elegant, even sweet. Still full of potent youthful black mineral laced fruits with notable elegance and finesse. A real beauty that's ready to go now but certainly not showing its age.' - Greg Sherwood MW, 96+/100 (2023)

'2012 is superb! Many years ahead of it, but already shows complexity in perfumed aromas and super-subtle but intense palate, with a truly rare refinement. Also rare is lack of oak influence - in concrete 'egg' for a year. Tiny yield, bunch-pressed. Bone-dry; 13.5% alcohol; big tannins also a touch dry - give them time.' - Platter's SA Wine Guide 2015, 5*

2013:
'It's remarkable to think that this is only the fourth release from this extreme, windblown site in the Swartland. Aged in foudres and concrete eggs, it's all about the intensity and focus of the fruit: dense, powerful and compact with thick tannins and the power to age. One of the Cape's very best Syrah vineyards.' - Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2015, 96/100

'60% foudre /40% concrete. Consistently an opaque red black colour. Lifted and perfumed with dried lavender, violets, fynbos and pithy black cherry notes. Another supple, vibrantly fresh, pinpoint palate with elegance and harmony but also intensity, purity and seamlessly tight knit powdery tannins and an exotic salty cassis reduction hint on the finish. A really spellbinding vintage. Love it!' - Greg Sherwood MW, 97/100 (2023)

'The fourth vintage from this picturesque site on steep slopes. Aged in foudres and concrete eggs, it's all about the intensity and focus of the fruit focused, dense and compact with thick tannins and the power and structure to age. A Cape classic in the making.' - Tim Atkin MW, Decanter, 96/100

'The 2013 Porseleinberg uses whole bunch fruit and is matured 60% in foudre and 40% in concrete eggs. Winemaker Callie Louw has fashioned a wine that has a very composed, quite intense and voluminous bouquet - black cherries and iris, with less of the violets and more a brooding marine influence that with aeration takes control of the aromatics. The delineation here is very impressive. The palate is grippy on the entry, the terroir permeating this Syrah from start to finish. With a Cornas-like brutishness counterpoised with stunning delineation and focus, this is a serious Syrah for the Syrah Swartland afficionado. It has the presence to last 15-20 years and represents one of the region's best contributions to the vintage. Good luck finding a bottle! Drink 2020 - 2040.' - Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, 95/100 (Nov 2015)

2014:
'Porseleinberg is one of the greatest Syrah sites in the southern hemisphere. The vines are still young, but this brutal vineyard produces wines of incredible intensity and focus. Entirely whole bunch fermented and aged in foudres, this is slightly more forward than some recent releases, but still needs time. Fynbos, dark berry fruit, blood and stony minerality combine on the palate.'-Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2016, 96/100

'Vintage coming off a very wet winter with massive rainfall. A big yielding vintage as well with 8 t/ha compared to circa 5 t/ha normally. Quite an earthy, plummy savoury nose with cured meats, dried lavender, potpourri, and a smoky, railway yard complexity. The palate shows delicious freshness, vibrant acids and a savoury melange of salty cassis, oyster shell and light soy hints, finishing with mouth coating chalky tannins without being obtrusive. A slightly unique expression but beautiful nonetheless.' - Greg Sherwood MW, 95+/100 (2023)

'Singular Shiraz from a special Swartland site. Whole-bunch natural ferment, 14 like 13 aged a year in large older oak - 12 was unoaked. Riveting perfume (smoke, spice, flowers) leads to supple, intense palate, its fine muscularity matched by depth of fruit.' - Platter's SA Wine Guide 2017, 5*

'Porseleinberg's 2014 Syrah has a very pure bouquet of blackberry, briary, hints of crushed violet and iris all with wonderful delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin. Compared to other vintages that I have tasted, this 2014 feels quite structured and perhaps a little more masculine than previous vintages, the schistous terroir expressive towards the mineral-driven finish. It constitutes one of the most intellectual wines from Porseleinberg that I have tasted, maybe less opulent than previous vintages, yet with great complexity and breeding.' - Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, 96/100 (Apr 2017)

2015:
'Sometimes you have to remind yourself how recently this amazing site was planted, makingits first wine in 2010. But what a wine this is. If it grown in the Rhône, it would sell for twicethe price or more. It's the Cornas of the Cape: compact, savoury and deeply coloured, withlayers of dark, inky fruit, spicy tannins and a combination of freshness and understatedpower. Drink 2020-32' - Tim Atkin MW, SA Wine Report 2017, 97/100

'"A stand-alone vintage" as Callie says. This shows a balance between power and finesse a la Northern Rhone with potpourri, dried perfumed lavender, red cherry spice, black berry and subtle smoky reductive cassis hints. In the mouth this is classically taut and precise framed by delicious 'architecturally soaring' acids, and incredibly dense fine grained chalky mineral tannins that show a harmoniously balanced power and intensity. A simply profound expression of Syrah.' - Greg Sherwood MW, 97+/100 (2023)

'The 2015 Porseleinberg Syrah contains whole-bunch fruit matured in 90% foudres and 10% concrete eggs. It has a very well defined bouquet of brambly black fruit and white pepper, and an engaging sense of coolness pervades these aromatics. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannin and almost Northern Rhône in style, offering ample freshness yet at the same time a brooding intensity. There is quality and refinement here from start to finish. A superb Syrah from winemaker Callie Louw, but one I feel needs two or three years in bottle. Want serious, world class South African wine? Get in line here.' - Neal Martin, Vinous, 96/100 (Aug 2018)

'Sophisticated, like its minimalist embossed label. Cerebral Syrah from a special Swartland site, hands-off, whole-bunch natural vinification. Riveting perfume, supple palate, fine muscularity. One year in large older oak, 10% in concrete 'egg'' - Platter's SA Wine Guide 2018, 4.5*

'Perhaps ailing a little bit from sulphurous reduction, but there's plenty of dense fruit on the nose too. The palate is gorgeously ripe and pure with smoke, red fruit and pepper spice. Finely ground tannins, naturally bright acidic lift. Perhaps not the all-singing, all-dancing version I was expecting, but still effortlessly attractive.' - Richard Hemming MW, JancisRobinson.com, 17/20 (Sep 2018)