- SIZE:
- 75cl
This is an incredibly pure expression of Syrah. Black fruit, violets, black olive and white pepper lead you to an elegant lifted layer of freshness, powdery tannins, and a delicate structure. A far cry from the bombastic reds South Africa was once known for. Here, Scions of Sinai usher in the age of a lighter touch.
'You will find it difficult to find a more soulful and importantly delicious Syrah from the Cape.'
- Neal Martin on 2021 Swanesang Syrah
Planted in the late 1990s, this single vineyard sits on a low ridge in the Lower Helderberg area of Stellenboash. The warm South African sunshine is perfectly tempered here, thanks to the cooling winds that roll off the False Bay shore; just four kilometres away. Though uncertified, the vines are farmed with organic practices.
'Bredell flew under my radar until winemakers kept namedropping him, so what else am I going to do but invite him over on my final day? ... He has all the tropes of the country’s young winemakers: rugged build, down-to-earth, uninterested in the glitz, happiest toiling away in his vines and above all creating wine that sends tingles down my spine.
... These wines are definitely worth seeking out – exemplary expression of terroir and grape variety courtesy of a young winemaker, Bredell clearly has “the touch”. They just lit up the room as the rain pelted down outside.'
- Neal Martin, Vinous
Bernhard Bredell grew up on his family farm in the Lower Helderberg, southeast of Stellenbosch, where his family have been farming grapes for seven generations.The name Scions of Sinai reflects this commitment to both land and family: a scion having the dual meaning of a young vine shoot and a generational descendant.
“I’m not trying to be weird or funky – for me what’s most important is to have that line between vineyard and glass as uncompromised as possible,”
The project is based around a granite outcrop colloquially known as Sinai Hill, and his goal is to make pure authentic wines from the old, dry-farmed bush vines grown here. Bernhard is low-intervention in the cellar - slow fermentation in open-top vats, ageing in old oak, no manipulations to the juice or wines and no filtration. His goal is an expression of a place, a vineyard, its history and its soil.
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