Yo El Rey Wines Good Luck Syrah Rosé 2022

ABOUT THE WINE:

This Syrah is farmed in Walker Bay, and is a beautiful 1.4ha block not far from the sleepy town of Stanford. Everything for this cuvée was whole bunch pressed, and then spontaneously fermented and aged in old oak barrels for about 9 months before being filtered and then bottled. Think very light, fresh red fruit, but with a rounder, weightier texture because of the oak ageing.

'Good Luck is a nod to the amazing farm where we buy the Syrah fruit from. It is a beautiful space, and the farmers Tabby and Alex cultivate the most incredible polyculture of different fruits, veg, honey and livestock. Nothing here is grown or farmed with any chemicals, and their philosophy around agriculture is really inspiring.'

ABOUT THE WINEMAKER:

Angelo’s journey into wine is an unlikely one. He enrolled at Stellenbosch University to study oenology, and subsequently failed his first year. That failure forced him to change his degree, but even in that moment, he felt a deep desire to pursue a career in wine. It was at Waterford Estate in Stellenbosch where he cut his teeth, and after moving to London to immerse himself in the wine industry in the city as a sommelier, he travelled to California to work a harvest with Pax Mahle in Sonoma, which was the catalyst for him starting Yo El Rey Wines in 2018.

Angelo works in a low-intervention style in the cellar, and as of 2023, is now working exclusively with négoce fruit farmed without any chemicals. He is extremely passionate about the South African wine scene, particularly the exciting new generation of winemakers coming into the fold. When he isn’t in the Cape producing his wines over harvest, he is in London, importing and distributing a handful of these growers to the U.K. trade.