No labels, no problem: SA Syrah shines in blind tasting

As is widely documented, a tension exists between winemakers, who view their wines as personal creations, and judges, whose constructive criticism is meant to drive improvement. Increasingly, a cohort of winemakers favors sighted tastings, keen to control the narrative around their wines. This tendency is especially pronounced in the local Syrah category, raising the perennial question: how would these wines perform blind, with labels concealed and reputations set aside?

Wine Cellar recently staged a tasting billed as “The Syrah Showdown – SA vs the World”. The title was arguably grander than the format – three flights of four wines, each flight pairing three South African Syrahs with a Rhône counterpart – but the exercise was useful nonetheless.

The pouring order was as follows:

Flight One
1. Van Loggerenberg Graft 2024
2. Savage Red 2023
3. Reyneke 2023
4. Clape Cornas 2022

Flight Two
1. Rall Ava 2024
2. Mullineux Schist 2023
3. Porseleinberg 2024
4. Levet Côte-Rôtie La Péroline 2021

Flight Three
1. Damascene Ceres Plateau 2022
2. Hartenberg Gravel Hill 2021
3. Jamet Côte-Rôtie 2021
4. Boschkloof Epilogue 2021

Here’s how I rated the wines:

98
Rall Ava 2024

97
Boschkloof Epilogue 2021
Van Loggerenberg Graft 2024

96
Damascene Ceres Plateau 2022
Levet Côte-Rôtie La Péroline 2021
Reyneke 2023

95
Porseleinberg 2024

94
Hartenberg Gravel Hill 2021
Jamet Côte-Rôtie 2021
Mullineux Schist 2023
Savage Red 2023

92
Clape Cornas 2022

The Rall Ava 2024 was impeccable. Red and black berries, fennel, fynbos, wilted rose, and pepper on the nose, with remarkable palate structure – excellent fruit density, vibrant acidity, firm tannins, and a long, dry finish. Youthful, succulent, composed.

That said, Van Loggerenberg Graft and Boschkloof Epilogue weren’t very far behind, the former showing the clarity and drive that the variety shows when planted on gravel, the latter looking quite beautiful at the moment, poised and energetic.

Among the Rhône wines, I appreciated Levet’s finesse, closely aligning with my mental picture of Côte-Rôtie. Clape, unfortunately, showed a degree of bacterial spoilage.

Post-tasting, my blind scores were broadly consistent with sighted evaluations. South Africa is undeniably producing world-class Syrah – and still at a discount relative to the price of its international peers, with the Rhône selections retailing from R2,000 a bottle upwards.