On Sunday evening an all too infrequent (these days) excursion to La Mouette in Sea Point. A special occasion justifies a unique wine and up steps the Newton Johnson Granum 2012.
We’ve long been big fans of Newton Johnson’s wines and I’ve made no secret in the past that they are my favourite local producer of Pinot Noir. The main reason for that being that their wines are elegant and relies on purity of fruit, expression of site and not on heavy extraction, very ripe fruit and oak to prop up the wines.

It is exactly for this reason that I love the Granum 2012. Made from Syrah and Mourvedre grapes (blended 84/16) grown on iron rich granite soils on their property in the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde , it shows lovely bright red fruit and baking spice. The technical sheet that I received from Newton Johnson states that they use wholebunch ferments and add stalks back, but there is not one iota of stalkiness in the wine. Pure and fresh with fine yet grippy tannins was my mental tasting note as I quaffed a glass at dinner.
Something quite interesting (and only for true wine geeks) is that the vines used for the Granum is Goblet and Echalas trained. Goblet is the usual bushvine. Echalas trained means that each vine is trained on its own wooden stake, so no wires are in use. Although not unique, it isn’t something you see all that often. Here’s a photo I shamelessly took from the WOSA website. All credit is theirs.

If this is what the NJ clan can do from vines only 8 years old, I cannot wait to see what they are going to come up with when their vines start getting a bit of age. Get it from the farm for R230 a bottle.
The Definitely NOT definitive guide to what flavours you can expect from Syrah:
Raspberry and other red berries like cherry and plums; Blueberry; Blackberry; White Pepper; Black Pepper; Cinnamon, Clove and other sweeter spices; Fynbos; Tea leaf; Floral like violets
The Definitely NOT definitive guide to what flavours you can expect from Mourvedre:
Intense flavours of blackberry, blueberry, plum, gamey, meaty, horse sweaty, herbal, baked ginger, violets