Sakkie Mouton Family Wines 'Dawn Of The Salty Tongues' Olifants River Syrah 2024

"‘Dawn of the Salty Tongues’ is a perfumed and fragrant Syrah from vines located in Vredendal, 15 miles from the cold Atlantic ocean on the West Coast of South Africa. In essence, this wine is a tribute to the people from the West Coast, raised from sand and salt and true to their roots. The label art is a reference to the rise of the West Coast as a new wine region and showcases divers picking grapes under the ocean, which contributes to the salty taste on the palette. “Salty tongues” is also a reference to the colorful language used by the local farmers and fishermen. Upon its maiden release in 2022, Greg Sherwood MW found himself fawning over this wine: “What else can I say other than this is undoubtedly one of the most exciting new additions to the South African Syrah landscape in the past 5+ years… which is saying a hell of a lot!”

Grapes were picked early in the morning to preserve freshness, then cooled down before being de-stemmed with 30% whole bunches into open fermenters the next morning. Fermentation started after three days of cold soaking and lasted for about two weeks with pumpovers three times a day. After fermentation, the wine was racked to 500 liter demi muids for 11 months of aging. The wine was then bottled with just a small addition of sulfur; no fining and no filtering." -Importer notes