2014 Porseleinberg
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Tasting Notes
The 2014 was one of the more open vintages in the line-up, from a particularly wet year and late harvest. The nose entices with an earthiness, a dusting of cocoa, deep red cherry and chocolate-covered strawberries. There’s a juicy purity to the palate with a chalky grip and savoury, smoky edge to the long finish. Aged for 12 months in 100% foudre.
Critic Scores
Average Score
Neal Martin, Wine Advocate
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
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
(13.5% alcohol): Dark ruby-red. Knockout nose combines black fruits, black olive, pepper, violet and spices, plus a whiff of woodsmoke. Intensely flavored and utterly seamless, showing superb inner-mouth floral, peppery lift to its savory boysenberry and olive tapenade flavors. Finishes with fine-grained tannins and lovely peppery, violety lift and length. This was partly aged in an old foudre, while the last vintage of this wine I tasted (the 2012) was done entirely in concrete, but there's more richness here without any loss of precision. Once again, the moderate alcohol level of Swartland fruit enables this wine to maintain its definition and grip. I would hold this beauty for at least a couple years but it won't hurt your teeth now.
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.
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About the producer
Porseleinberg is a single-site Syrah from the Swartland that has, since its first vintage in 2010, become one of South Africa’s most celebrated and sought-after wines. Made by cult winemaker Callie Louw from incredibly poor soils on the slopes of the Porseleinberg, the wine is rightfully revered.