Duncan Savage, Girl Next Door Syrah, Western Cape 2022 - 75cl

The vineyard for this sits on Duncan Savage's own doorstep in Noordhoek, on the Cape Peninsula — a tough little site of sandy gravel overlooking the Atlantic, battered by wind and touched by salt spray. It is barely a third of a hectare, and in a good year it makes around two hundred cases. The name is a joke about proximity.

Savage has built his reputation on Cape wines with tension rather than sunshine, and this is Syrah made in that spirit: cool site, whole-bunch fermentation, old barrels, and no interest in extracting more than the fruit wants to give.

The 2022 is dark but not heavy. Blackberry and dark cherry on the nose, then cracked black pepper, dried herbs, olive and a distinctly smoky, savoury edge. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, slightly grainy tannin and acidity that runs high thanks to the maritime cool. There's a saline, almost briny note beneath the fruit that comes straight off the Atlantic. The finish is long, peppery and dry.

At £37 this is closer to a northern Rhône Syrah than to anything most people expect from South Africa. Small production and worth chasing.

How to Serve

15-17°C. Decant for half an hour. Burgundy-shaped glasses suit whole-bunch Syrah better than Bordeaux ones.

Where to Drink It

Brat in Shoreditch, where the fire and the pepper meet. Planque in Haggerston. Noble Rot.

Food Pairings

Lamb chops grilled over coals, with plenty of salt. Peppery cool-climate Syrah and char is a combination that never fails.