The Foundry Syrah

Holding a deep, dense but brilliant ruby-purple colour, it invites the bouquet with a heady mix of violets, plum fruit and wild herb aromas, along with spicy and savoury nuances. A lavish, concentrated palate follows with ample ripe fruit and velvety, structured tannins. The finish persists with flavours of fruit and spice.

The Foundry was established in 2000 and is the brainchild of Meerlust’s winemaker Chris Williams in partnership with James Reid. Working closely with a handful of growers, fruit is sourced from across the Cape to secure grapes at optimum ripeness from sites which are best suited to each variety. Long-term contracts have been concluded for specific rows of vines to meet The Foundry’s demand for high quality fruit which is expressive of its source vineyards. Williams insists there's no conflict in terms of production given that the wines of Meerlust are reflective of a single property whereas he sources from various different growers for The Foundry. Meerlust is an estate, for better or for worse, while The Foundry is varietal focused. As for The Foundry, he simply says that it's "very young" as a brand. The current range consists of different vineyards in Stellenbosch and Paardeberg. The wines don't exactly scream of origin yet. When I started out I had very fixed ideas how I wanted the wines to show but now that I'm a bit older, I'm much more inclined to let the vineyard come to the fore. This is not yet more lip-service to the notion of terroir; rather, it's about coming up with something that wine enthusiasts find truly compelling - Make something unique and you can just about guarantee success.