Winemaker Richard Kershaw MW refers to the Elgin Valley as “a saucer”. Standing somewhere in the middle of this high-lying area, it’s plain to see why: it is surrounded by a rim of mountains which frame verdant, rolling troughs and peaks.
More technically, Kershaw describes it as “situated on an inland, hexagonal-shaped plateau, at an altitude of 300 metres, surrounded by mountains, only 10 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean.”
For many years Elgin has been associated with apples, temperature extremes ensuring sufficient cold units for this to be a most successful, profitable crop. While apples remain the dominant crop, over the past 20 years vines too have made their mark to the extent they now cover close to 830 hectares.
Ask any knowledgeable wine lover which grape varieties are most associated with the area and the answer is likely to be Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Shiraz is unlikely to be mentioned, even though it does account for just on 75 hectares.
Why then, I wondered, did Kershaw select Shiraz rather than the more popular Pinot Noir? He does make Pinot but for Naked Wines rather than his own Richard Kershaw Wines label, which consists of just Chardonnay and Syrah.
Firstly, he finds many Elgin Pinots too linear, sinewy, which is not what the consumer is seeking. He does qualify this by admitting different soils produce different styles, with Paul Cluver Estate Wines being more successful in a fleshy style. On the other hand, Syrah from Côte Rôtie in the Rhône has much personal appeal for Kershaw.
There are many factors that make Elgin a suitable area for an elegant, medium-weight style of Syrah, one that should appeal to wine lovers. Some of the major ones Kershaw mentions are that it’s the coolest wine region in South Africa (Region 2 on the Winkler scale); it receives cloud cover from the prevailing southeasterly wind in summer, thus blocking the sun, which helps to reduce temperatures and encourages slow ripening of the grapes.
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