Brookdale Estate 'Mason Road' 2023 Syrah Paarl, Coastal Region, South Africa

750ml bottle

14% abv

Deeply aromatic. Notes of violet, kirsch, red cherries, black olives, and a hint of smoked meat. On the palate, the tannins are quite grippy, yet fine grained and wash away with lively acidity. Long, savory finish.

100% Syrah

Made by Kiara Scott Farmer, South Africa's Winemaker of the Year, 2024. Black Female Winemaker.

It is often said that it is near impossible to make a great Syrah from young vines. However, Kiara does an exceptional job in going against the grain. She keeps a small percentage of the bunches whole-cluster. She then destems the rest and dries the stalks in the hot Paarl sun for two days. She adds these dried stems back to the ferment for the duration, which helps to impart the delightful savory side notes above without being overbearing. The wine spends time in used, large barrels helping tame the rugged young Syrah tannins.

The Mason Road Syrah was hand-harvested in eight different passes and fermented in open-top vessels. Fully de-stemmed; however, 30% were air-dried, then added into fermentation to contribute spicy notes. Native yeast fermentation followed, with a combination of punch downs and pump overs to extract color and flavor from the skins. After fermentation, the wine was pressed off the skins and malolactic fermentation was completed in barrels and foudres with a short maceration on the skins to stabilize the color and give the wine palate length. The wine spent a further eight months in 300 and 500 liter French oak barrels as well as 2500 liter foudre barrels (40% third fill).

Chapter One – Founding of Brookdale Estate
The story of Brookdale Estate begins with the vision of Tim Rudd, a UK-native who purchased the historic, yet neglected wine farm and converted it into a thriving estate. Named after the hamlet where Tim was born, Brookdale has been transformed into one of the most beautiful wine farms in South Africa known for exceptional quality, sustainable and minimal interventionist approaches, and a world-class hotel and bistro on site.

After Rudd purchased the farm, he hired Duncan Savage – one of South Africa’s most famous winemakers – to consult. They embarked on a multi-year vineyard revitalization program with an emphasis on sustainability. Any old vine heritage stock in good condition was revitalized; any too far gone, was replanted. They were able to save a tremendous amount of legacy stock and today, Brookdale Estate is home to several blocks of vines that are more than 25 years of age. There are even several blocks that are more than 35 years of age, allowing them to be certified as Heritage Vines by the Old Vine Project.

Today, Brookdale produces a seductive Heritage Vine Chenin Blanc that annually receives top awards; a unique sixteen grape white field blend; and the super-tasty everyday price point young vine series, Mason Road.

Chapter Two – Kiara Scott Farmer, South Africa’s Winemaker of the Year, 2024
Not long into his time at Brookdale, Savage brought on Kiara Scott Farmer, a young intern who would quickly become one of South Africa’s winemaking stars. He saw tremendous potential in Kiara and time would prove this true.

In 2019, after Savage departed to focus entirely on his own label, Brookdale appointed Kiara as their head winemaker, which made her the youngest head female winemaker in South Africa at 26 years of age! Without missing a beat, she led the estate to become a top producer in South Africa.

Kiara is as hard a worker as they come. She graduated from Elsenburg Ag. Tech (Africa’s first-ever agricultural training center) in viticulture and from Stellenbosch University in winemaking. She has also made wine in France – in Condrieu and Sancerre – and at Hartford Court in the Russian River Valley. All of this was before she was 25 years of age!

After her university and international winemaking experience, Kiara was selected to be a participant in the prestigious Cape Winemakers’ Guild (CWG) Protégé Program. This program offers a small group of talented young winemakers the opportunity to partake in three, one year winemaking internships at member-winery cellars. The wineries supporting the CWG are the best in South Africa and become members to promote knowledge-share in the industry. A rising tide lifts all boats!

Kiara’s last year in the program brought her to work with Duncan Savage, which is where her and Brookdale’s stories merge. She finished out the three-year program as Savage was leaving Brookdale. Her charisma, talent, and hard work paid off, earning her the head winemaker position. “I have a simple and minimal intervention approach to winemaking. I believe that great wines are made in the vineyard. Year-on-year, I am aiming to better understand our vineyards and soils to make the work in the cellar easier,” said Kiara.

Chapter Three – Xander Sadie and Shanice du Preez, South Africa’s Rising Stars
As Brookdale Estate continues to evolve, the next chapter of its story brings new energy and promising talent into the cellar. Enter Xander Sadie and Shanice du Preez—two young and incredibly dynamic winemakers set to carry Brookdale’s vision forward.

Xander Sadie, a rising star in South African winemaking, joined Brookdale as head winemaker just in time for the 2025 harvest. Before taking the helm, he was the winemaker at Blank Bottle, a Stellenbosch producer known for its minimal intervention approach. Xander has been involved in winemaking his entire life, however, as his legendary father, Eben Sadie, founded the most sought-after wines in the country, Sadie Family Wines. Although Xander’s a young-buck, he’s an old-soul, and quite literally has an entire lifetime of knowledge on South African wine.

Joining him in the cellar is Shanice du Preez, an exceptionally talented assistant winemaker whose career has been on a meteoric rise. A graduate of the Cape Winemaker's Guild Protégé Program, Shanice spent her final year under the mentorship of Duncan Savage – at his eponymous winery, Savage – refining her skills at one of South Africa’s most forward-thinking wineries. Her journey has also taken her abroad, working at one of our favorite Duoro Valley estates, Wine & Soul (Portugal), where she deepened her understanding of old-vine winemaking and traditional techniques.

Together, Xander and Shanice represent the next generation of Brookdale’s winemaking philosophy. They are taking the reins at an exciting time, carrying on the incredible work Duncan and Kiara have done – and continuing to raise the awareness of the estate as one of the best in South Africa. The future has never looked brighter.