variety : Shiraz [ 97% Shiraz, 3% Mourvèdre ]
winemaker : John Seccombe
wine of origin : Elgin
analysis : alc : 14.6 % vol rs : 2.3 g/l pH : 3.71 ta : 5.07 g/l
type : Red style : Dry body : Full taste : Fruity wooded
pack : Bottle closure : Cork
in the vineyard : Iona is situated on a mountain plateau 450m above sea level overlooking the Atlantic Ocean 60km east of Cape Town in the Elgin Ward. The farm was named "IONA" after an island off the West Coast of Scotland. As Gunns we trace our ancestry to the Vikings that landed in Scotland in the 900s, hence the Viking long boat emblem on our labels. The first vineyards were planted in1998 and our initial research confirmed that Iona is one of South Africa's coolest vineyards with harvesting times up to 3 months later than other wine producing areas. The whites are harvested in March and reds in April. The cool climate ensures long, slow physiological ripening of the grapes under ideal growing conditions, with the sugar, ph, acid, tannins and flavour compounds being in perfect balance to produce elegant, low alcohol wines of distinction. The winemaker, shares our philosophy that wines are made in the vineyard and that he is merely the custodian of the fruit. He makes the wine with minimum intervention with no additions of acid or sugar, etc.
Syrah on Iona was one of those fortunate accidents that happen from time to time. When we originally planted our Cabernet Sauvignon the nursery mistakenly supplied us with about 600 vines of Shiraz. The mistake was only discovered after the vines started growing and bearing fruit. Rather than replant them, we decided to mark the Shiraz vines as they were randomly interspersed in the Cabernet block, and harvest them separately. We made 4 barrels of wonderful, elegant Shiraz with the cool growing conditions showing the white spice, red berry fruit and perfume associated with Hermitage. As a result we planted more Shiraz, with some Mourvèdre and Viognier as potential blending components and changed the name to Syrah reflecting its more Northern Rhone style.