Glenelly, Stellenbosch (South Africa) Syrah 2015

This was among the very most exciting wines I tasted while in South Africa last week, though I admit that I approached it with some skepticism.  It was presented relatively early in an extensive tasting, and when winemaker Luke O’Cuinneagain introduced it, he said it was inspired by the wines of Alain Graillot, a very highly regarded winemaker in France’s Rhône Valley.  Whenever I hear this sort of cross-country comparison, I’m now habituated to thinking to myself, “Yeah, right” while engaging in internal eye-rolling that I hope isn’t externally visible.  And yet, from my first sniff and sip, I had to admit that I could easily mistake this wine for a Crozes-Hermitage from a top growing site in an excellent vintage…and not just when I was having an off-day as a taster.  (Sorry Luke…you were right and I was wrong.)  Beautiful red berry fruit holds center stage, but there’s also an earthy aromatic streak that is clean (meaning, no brettanomyces) and nice, bright acidity as well as just a faint touch of oak.  At $17, this is a mind-blowing value, worth twice that price by global standards.  The USA importer (Cape Classics) doesn’t take this wine based on belief that it is too hard to sell Syrah in the USA.  So, I’ll be looking for this overseas, and if I find it, I’ll do what my friend and WRO colleague Michael Apstein does:  Just buy another suitcase and throw it in the attic after getting the wine back home.