Kershaw Clonal Selection Syrah
£53.00
£70.67 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
Only 5 bottles left
Cool-climate Cape Syrah at its most precise. Kershaw's Clonal Selection takes hand-picked Elgin Syrah, micro-vinifies it parcel by parcel, and rests it in French oak until every clone speaks. The result is taut, peppery and perfumed, closer in spirit to a top northern Rhône than to a sun-soaked New World red. Serious stuff, beautifully made.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
Our Verdict
We listed Kershaw because, frankly, nobody in South Africa is working Syrah with this level of precision. The Clonal Selection isn't a blockbuster; it's a study in restraint, with the cool peppery lift of a northern Rhône and the savoury depth that only old French oak and patient maturation can give. Pour it for the friend who reaches for Cornas or Côte-Rôtie and watch them rethink the Cape. Stocks of this one are limited, and once it's gone we wait for the next release. If you enjoy this, our other Kershaw bottlings are well worth exploring.
Tasting Notes
Mid cherry red in the glass, with a nose that unfolds in layers: black raspberry and dark plum first, then crushed peppercorn, wild lavender and dried orange peel, with deeper notes of vanilla pod and freshly ground coffee underneath. The palate is fuller than the perfume suggests, built on fine, powdery tannins and a thread of cool acidity that keeps everything taut. Roasted meats, tapenade and savoury earth carry through to a long, dry, gently grippy finish.
About This Wine
You've found one of the most quietly obsessive wines in the Cape. Richard Kershaw MW built his label around a simple idea: treat Syrah the way Burgundy treats Pinot Noir. That means small parcels, individual clones, separate soil types, and a refusal to blend until every barrel has had its say. The Clonal Selection is the wine that tells you why this matters. In the glass it's mid cherry red, lifted and fragrant. Expect black raspberry and crushed peppercorns first, then wild lavender, dried orange peel and a whisper of rosemary, with sweeter notes of vanilla pod and freshly milled coffee underneath. The palate is the surprise: full-bodied but tightly wound, with a fine powdery tannin and a thread of acidity that keeps everything taut. Savoury flavours of tapenade, roasted meats and dark berry fruit run long into a dry, smooth finish. Fruit is drawn from five small parcels in cool-climate Elgin, then aged for seventeen months in French oak (a mix of new and used barriques, puncheons and breathable concrete eggs) before bottling unfiltered. This is a wine to decant, pour into a Burgundy bowl, and serve with something worthy: slow-roasted lamb shoulder, peppered ribeye, or a hearty mushroom and beef bourguignon for a Sunday lunch that lingers. Delivered across the UK in protective packaging. A genuinely impressive gift for anyone who already loves serious Syrah, or who thinks they know what South African red wine tastes like.
Food Pairing
This wants something with char and herbs. Slow-cooked lamb shoulder studded with rosemary and garlic is the obvious match, but it's equally at home with a rare ribeye, a duck breast with black pepper sauce, or a wintry mushroom and beef stew. The savoury, peppery edge also makes it brilliant with hard, nutty cheeses at the end of a long Sunday lunch.
- —Slow-roasted lamb shoulder with rosemary and garlic
- —Charred ribeye steak with black pepper butter
- —Pan-seared duck breast with peppercorn sauce
- —Beef and wild mushroom stew
- —Aged Comte or mature Manchego
How to Serve
Decanting
Give it 45-60 minutes in a decanter. The tannins are still firm and the perfumed lavender and pepper notes really come alive with air. Worth the effort.
Behind the Wine
Elgin's growing season is defined by cool ocean air funnelling up from the Atlantic, slow ripening, and tightly cropped berries that hang on the vine well into autumn. Kershaw's approach exploits this patiently: small parcels picked clone by clone, each at its own ideal moment. The result is Syrah with concentrated, perfumed fruit, bright natural acidity, and the kind of structural tension that cooler Cape sites do better than almost anywhere else in the country.
Ageing Potential
Drinking beautifully now but built to age. Cellar for another 6-10 years and the tannins will resolve further, the oak will fold completely into the fruit, and those savoury, leathery, dried-herb notes will deepen. There's no rush; this wine has plenty of life ahead.
The Winemaking
Five small parcels of Syrah are micro-vinified separately, each clone and soil type kept apart so its character can speak. Maturation runs for 17 months in French oak, with around 58% new wood split across barriques, puncheons from hand-picked Burgundy and Rhône coopers, and a portion in breathable concrete eggs. An in-house algorithm matches each batch to the right cooper and barrel age. No fining, no filtration: just racked and bottled, with the texture and tannin left intact.
About the Producer
Kershaw
Richard Kershaw is one of only a handful of Masters of Wine actually making wine in South Africa, and he founded Kershaw Wines with a clear idea: take the noble grapes that can produce truly world-class wine, Chardonnay, Syrah, Pinot Noir, and grow them where they belong, then split everything down to the clone and the soil type. No blending shortcuts, no broad-brush approach. Each tiny parcel is vinified on its own and only married together at the end if it earns its place. It's a forensic, almost scientific way of working, but the wines that come out the other side are anything but clinical. They taste of somewhere specific, made by someone who knows exactly what they're doing.