BLANKbottle, Little William, Western Cape

On opening yesterday this seemed completely off - an indistinct stewed aroma, a slightly repugnant taste - so I replaced the cork and left if for a day. Reader, it sings. Pure, pellucid Syrah, tannins like the weave of a tweed coat, and a glorious, wandering nose: the ripest wild raspberries, violets, black cherries, roast plums, scratched thumbs, black pepper, charcoal, nori. It puts me in mind of a more classical Hervé Souhaut's Syrah cuvée (it is no such avalanche …

Endure24 Friday Night (Wasing Park) : Some Syrah is put in burgundy bottles. Occasionally it’s put in Bordeaux style bottles. This one was put in a Riesling magnum as tall as a small child. Similar character to the preceding bottle - cool, savoury, somewhat grippy with lip smacking acid. Went great with smoked meat and a camp fire.

Strong ruby, nose of red cherry, strawberry, raspberry, cedar, earth, smoke, leaves & vanilla. Good body, strong acidity and ripe tannins. To taste raspberry, strawberry, red cherry, leather & smoke. Ok length. Good. Nice balance and flavours but lacking complexity & depth.

Nice enough but a bit disappointed for the price - not a very long finish and huge amounts of complexity, would have put it at half the price paid (£30) if I hadn’t known

One half of the table - somewhat bizarrely imo - seemed to enraptured by this while the other half seemed less enamoured by this Blank Bottle creation. To me it was a good generic Syrah, a bit simple, not particularly interesting or complex, but on the plus side quite light on its feet and drinkable, despite its callow youth. I am curious to latch on to a bottle to analyse it over an evening, because I may have missed a …

North London TWS Tastings series: South Africa (Must and Lees, N1) (Must and Lees N1) : Fascinating nostalgia inducing nose of church incense, black tea, dusty rooms. On the palate some peppery tangy red fruit, tangy. Great intensity and a slug of acidity to match. Wowsers. Seems like a bit of a one off both in style and given how the grapes are sourced

South African wines of North London (Must & Lees) : What a lovely young wine. Aromatic, sweetly fruited nose, almost heady in its musky, peppery intensity. Stemmy and grippy on the palate, but sleek and pretty with it: delightfully ready to enjoy despite its youth, and only 12.5%. Syrah meets Beaujolais! My and the group's #3 wine tonight.

I don't understand this at all. Bizarre off-putting Riesling bottle. Light and fragrant but also watery and ill-defined. Vaporous. Don't know what this is or means. This is Syrah? It's not gross, it's just weird and its identity and purpose are hard to pin down.

South Africa (Must and Lees, N1) : Dark red. Wonderful nose of blackberry and blueberry. Enticing! The same abundant fruit on the palate, with some chewiness, tapenade and bay leaf. The intesity of the fruit makes it a little one-dimensional, but it has a purity that makes it absolutely delicious - not all wine needs to multi-faceted and astonishingly complex - this was straight-up lovely.

Grapes sourced from the Ceres plateau. Mid-purple ruby colour with a fresh and inviting nose offering raspberry jelly powder, ripe boysenberry, and blackberry preserve. No noted oak, the wine opens further to reveal pepper, lavender and a touch of fennel bulb. Medium-bodied, the palate is fleshy, has good intensity and has a linear profile. Lively acidity keeps it vibrant, while the main focus is on the tannins, which are chalky, sinewy, and chewy, filling the mouth. Amidst this is a …

Little William also stopped by this summer. He smelt somewhat floral at first, before revealing blackberries, red cherry sauce, cumin, liquorice, anise and black pepper. Pure and juicy red and black berries with a mild spicy touch - nicely elevated by fresh acidity. Sleek and ripe tannins. Medium body, and a lovely balanced slight peppery finish.

Syrah. Sour cranberry and cherry, high acidity - I think too early picked, resulting in unripe fruit. Medium tannin, medium body. Short and straightforward. Doubt this will soften, drink over the next 3 years.