HANtv Episode CHAPTER INDEX:
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0:00 – Two Wines, One Salty Lick
0:47 – Brunia, 17 km From the Atlantic
1:50 – Three Suspects
2:05 – Thelema’s The Mint and the Eucalyptus Clue
3:13 – Suspect 1: Sea Spray on the Grapes
4:19 – Tasting: Brunia Sauvignon Blanc 2024
5:58 – How a Wine Smells of Seaweed Without the Sea
6:42 – Suspect 2: The Yeast in the Tank
8:16 – Sondagskloof: The Scene of the Crime
9:14 – Salt in Jam vs Salt in Miso
9:52 – Meet Wade Sander
10:36 – Tasting: Brunia Syrah
11:52 – No Kelp, Still Salty
12:27 – Suspect 3: The Sea Inside Your Head
13:33 – Tim James Counts the Salt in Platter’s
14:47 – The Verdict: Can You Taste the Ocean?
15:44 – Try This at Your Next Dinner Party
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South African Syrah used to mean heat, mass and a lot of very ripe fruit. Head down the coast, though, and a growing number of cool, windswept places are making something lighter and far more interesting, from the Polkadraai Hills above False Bay to the Agulhas plain and the tiny ward of Sondagskloof, where Brunia farms about 17 kilometres from the cold Atlantic. Here’s the detail that tells you how cool it gets: this red wine comes in at a lower alcohol than the Sauvignon Blanc from the same property. It was picked at lower ripeness than a white, and yet it is anything but shy, with fennel, wild herbs, rocket, strawberry and blackberry on the nose, and white pepper and a flicker of blood orange on the palate. Winemaker Wade Sander shares a household with Natasha Williams of Lelie van Saron, who also makes a lighter, aromatic Syrah, and between them they make a convincing case that South African Syrah doesn’t need heat or mass to be interesting. In this episode it is tasted alongside Brunia’s Sauvignon Blanc as we ask whether you can really taste the ocean.
But of course, if you have yet to sign up for your Monthly HanDrinksSolo Wine Subscription then you’ll have to hunt this wine down in your own time. But until then, here are my tasting notes and some technical specs:
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TASTING NOTES
Aromas: A delightfully dynamic set of aromas, the kind you’d hope for from a coastal Syrah. There’s fennel, dried herbs and a scrubby mix of garrigue and oregano, plus rocket, the bitter, peppery leaf you throw into salads to freak children out. Then the fruit arrives: strawberry, which isn’t common on Syrah, and some more obvious blackberry.
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Palate: Gentle and lacy. The strawberry and a little cherry carry through, joined by white pepper spice and, because this is an earlier-harvest Syrah, a touch of blood orange that reads almost like salted citrus rind. A pleasant salty-sweet movement runs right through the wine. This is a light style, so if you love a big, punchy bruiser of a Syrah, this one isn’t for you. There isn’t a whiff of the sea on it, and yet it still carries that savoury, saline edge, which is exactly what makes it such a useful witness beside the Sauvignon Blanc.
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TECHNICAL SPECS
Syrah from Brunia, the Sander family’s organic and biodynamic mixed farm in Sondagskloof, with some fruit from Shaw’s Mountain. Fermented with 40% whole bunches and matured for 12 months in older oak. The cold air and persistent wind slow the build-up of sugar, so the grapes reach flavour ripeness at a lower potential alcohol than the estate’s Sauvignon Blanc.
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