LCBO Find: The Winery of Good Hope Mountainside Syrah 2024

We are embarking on our fifth year of Fall Into Spice, an event where we work with underrepresented restaurants in the world of wine. We liaise with the chef to come up with what is an authentic menu to them, and pair it all with wine.

This year's Fall Into Spice takes us to a Nigerian restaurant, Afrobeat Kitchen, but there's a twist. The menu is an ode to South African food, with sprinkles of the chef's Nigerian love. Given this, I thought it fitting to explore a South African wine and a red grape that many forget that the country does well with. Here enters the Winery of Good Hope, Mountainside Syrah, 2024.

Winery of Good Hope Vineyards

About The Winery of Good Hope

The Winery of Good Hope was founded in 1998 by Alex Dale in South Africa's prestigious Stellenbosch region. It is the sub-project of the Radford Dale operation with a hyper focus on sustainability, hence the name 'Winery of Good Hope', which is also a play on the name of the South African wine region 'Cape of Good Hope'.

The Winery of Good Hope is fully accredited for environmentally friendly practices and social upliftment efforts, including the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) program. What's more is that in 2024, the winery re-launched its packaging with a focus on sustainability, utilizing lightweight, recyclable bottles and eco-friendly materials to reduce environmental impact.

About the Winery of Good Hope, Mountainside Syrah, 2024

The Winery of Good Hope Mountainside Syrah 2024 is a refreshing and elegantly restrained Syrah sourced from two older, gravelly mountainside vineyards overlooking False Bay. This wine benefits from the cooling maritime influence and the Cape Doctor wind, promoting superb balance and finesse over power.

On the nose, it shows lifted aromatic notes of rosemary and lavender, which drift over a core of vibrant plum fruit and blackberry.

On the palate, the Mountainside Syrah is medium-bodied with a soft texture, and finely integrated tannins. It reveals sharply defined dark fruit flavours, alongside a surprisingly noticeable amount of non-fruit elements such as thyme and cured meat. The wine finishes with a tapering softness rather than bold ripeness, emphasizing finesse over intensity. With an alcohol content of 13% and only 3 grams of residual sugar per litre, it’s a very drinkable wine that pairs well with a variety of dishes.

The Winery of Good Hope Mountainside Syrah 2024 can be purchased at the LCBO for $16.95.