Every so often we get to dive into the archives of all the wines we have ever produced. Even more rarely, we get to take a closer look at the first wines of Oldenburg Vineyards. Today we get to savour the Joshua Syrah 2007.
The vines for this particular Syrah were planted on the top of Rondekop in 2004, and following three years of growth, the grapes were harvested and vinified in bins to assess the potential of the site for future harvests. The quality achieved on this wine from just three-year-old vines was exceptional, and the site’s future was secured.
The wine itself was named after one of Adrian’s and Vanessa’s sons, who enjoyed his birthday on the same day of harvest starting – the 22nd of February 2007. The wine was meant to be something for family and close friends to enjoy.It was not intended to be sold at the time, and therefore it was never submitted to the regulatory bodies and so we were not permitted to publish either the grape variety or the vintage on the label.
Even the label was intended to be a mock-up and was by no means a finished product. But an exceptional wine deserved a label regardless. And so it came to pass that the wine was labelled, albeit without a vintage or variety, and was enjoyed over many family dinners since then. As it was a surprisingly good harvest, a few reserve cases have stood the test of time since then and have been ageing in the private Vanderspuy cellar.
If you were to drink this wine now, we would recommend decanting it, as the wine starts to unfold over 30-45 minutes. You can expect waves of tertiary characters in the form of freshly tilled earth, mushrooms, and olive tapenade. Black plums, and black cherries are still present and keeping the fruit profile of the wine alive and nuanced. Woven between all those aromatic delights, there is a great wood integration that provides a framework for all the flavours.
We are releasing 48 bottles of the Joshua Syrah 2007 this month from our Library Collection at a price of R715 per bottle. Should you wish to secure your bottles, please contact stefan@oldenburgvineyards.com. Please do be aware that this offer is on a first-come, first-served basis.
