Ahrens Family Black Syrah 2023 Swartland, Western Cape, South Africa 75cl

The Ahrens Family story began in 2008, when Albert and Heidi Ahrens set up their own small label after Albert’s years in the Rhone, Priorat, Champagne and the Swartland. His name is closely tied to the new wave of Cape wine, a movement of growers making fresher, more savoury, terroir-focused bottlings. He works with minimal intervention and one clear rule: every wine must taste of somewhere specific.

Black was the wine that started it all, first made in 2008, and it remains Ahrens’s Swartland statement. The name plays on Swart, the Afrikaans for black, so Black simply means a red from the Swartland. It is mostly Syrah, around seventy percent, with a good measure of Carignan for freshness, acidity and complexity, drawn from five older vineyards on decomposed granite and iron-rich ferricrete near the Paardeberg and Malmesbury.

In 2023 the Swartland enjoyed near-ideal conditions, relatively cool through the year with no heat spikes and fantastic ripening. A dry, warm winter gave way to a cooler, slightly wetter finish that let the grapes ripen slowly and evenly. For a Syrah-led red, that means deep colour and flavour built without any baked, over-ripe heaviness, and plenty of natural freshness to keep it lively.

Deep, dark ruby. The nose is savoury and lifted, with blackberry, dark plum and black cherry over cracked pepper, dried herbs, olive and a hint of smoky spice. Medium to full-bodied and succulent, it has concentrated dark fruit, a savoury, meaty depth and firm but ripe tannins, all held together by fresh acidity. The finish is long and structured. Serve with grilled lamb, beef or hearty stews, and cellar up to eight years.

Albert calls Black his Northern Rhone wine, and Tim James, tasting it at the cellar, noted its subtle perfume, succulence, concentration and serious structure. Think of a good Crozes-Hermitage or northern Rhone Syrah, savoury and peppery rather than sweet and jammy. As his founding wine and one of the Swartland’s steady reference points, it is a confident, characterful red for a proper meal or a few years in the rack.