IT’S REALLY ALL ABOUT THE VINEYARDS

Syrah is the red wine varietal that rules the Northern Rhône Valley. There are a number of legends associated with the origins of Syrah, which all add a touch of romance to the grape and today it ranks as the 6th most planted grape in the world. It is a very versatile variety which adapts well to a wide range of regions and expresses a true sense of terroir.

The grapes for Peacock Wild Ferment Syrah stem from the slopes of the Schapenberg, which forms part of the cooler ‘Golden Triangle’ of the Helderberg region on the coastal outskirts of Stellenbosch. Deep red soils provide moisture and nutrients, which give our Syrah its supple, spicy characters.

The Peacock Wild Ferment range is named after the brightly plumed birds conspicuous in and around Waterkloof’s vineyards and if you are lucky you might just spot the albino Peacock from which the label gets its inspiration.

A GENTLE HAND

We follow a ‘less is more’, minimal intervention winemaking philosophy for all our wines: Grapes are tasted at regular intervals to determine the optimal ripeness level. Harvesting takes place by hand after which, the grapes are then placed, whole bunch, via gravity into our open top wooden fermenters. The juice is fermented spontaneously with “wild yeasts”, which allows for the flavours in the vineyard to be expressed in the finished wine. Soft punch downs are used to gently extract the tannins during fermentation. To ensure soft tannins, the wine is left on the skins for approximately 30 days. After this the wine is drained via gravity and the skins are pressed by using a basket press.

The Peacock Wild Ferment Syrah was aged in a combination of old 600 litre French oak barrels and large wooden vats for six months after which it underwent a light filtration. A small dosage of sulphur was added before it was finally bottled. Only sulphur was added and no other additions such as tartaric acid or enzymes were allowed.  

14.5 % Alc. Vol.