I admittedly had a much quicker taste of the wine at a wine show, but remember getting some disappointing heat from high alcohol. Upon checking the label, I was disappointed to see the 14.5% alcohol - what's the point of trumpeting a cold area and then making your wine the same as everyone else that lacks imagination and application? Sure the age of the vines is a mitigating factor, but they had a chance to show that their terroir is capable of producing something really different and they didn't make the most of it. For R260 you can buy some of the best South African wines from decades old vineyards and proven track records. What's next, a 14% alcohol Riesling? Despite the early "setback" I'm still excited to see what they can produce over there in Sutherland. I really do wish them the best of luck, but if they keep on churning out expensive alcoholic monsters, my excitement will fade pretty fast.

If I get prominent "heat" from alcohol on an unfortified wine, it means that the alcohol is - for me - not integrated. This sometimes happens in very young wines, but is mostly due to wine that's out of balance. Sure there are wines with high alcohol that are balanced, too - and some very good ones at that. More often than not though, I personally find these potently alcoholic wines less apealing and more difficult to match with food (more so if they also lack balance, which is quite common).

Altitude doesn't automatically ensure lower alcohol, but cooler climates (proximity to water, high altitudes, etc.) should - all other things being equal - produce phenolically ripe grapes at lower sugar levels than hotter areas, which would result in wines with more moderate alcohols. Even in warmer climates, astute winemakers are making wines with moderate alcohols. They are the exceptions. Inversely, there will always be people making wine with high ABV's from cooler areas. In fact, this will be more common as it is not only easier, but also seemingly fashionable. Add to this the fact that many (esp. the Argentinians) are making wine with a firm eye on the USA, the biggest wine market in the world and one notorious for its preference for very ripe wines, a-la Robert Parker.

I perfer tasting blind, but obviously didn't taste the Sutherland Syrah blind at the wine show. I did get the alcohol burn before checking the ABV, though (in fact, it was the reason I did). It's still early days and young vineyards over there, though, and I'm hoping that this cool area ultimately results in more than snow pictures and marketing talk about altitudes.

My hopes and expectations of this exciting new wine area are my own and many (likely most) people might prefer the big, riper style of wine in any case. That's okay: de gustibus non est disputandum!

I think techniques have changed quite a bit (cultured yeasts, stainless steel tanks, etc. etc.) and I do think there's a place for creating commercial, fashionable wine. Understandably, economics sometimes do trump long term vision, but I just prefer the producers that make interesting stuff and at least try to coax a sense of place and some balance out of their grapes.

Interesting comments, but blaming warmer climates for high alcohols is not always correct. A large part of sugar accumulation is determined by light intensity, and this is determined by lattitude or cloud cover or the absence thereof. This explains a lot of the low alcohols in the Northern parts of Europe. The further north, or south you go the less light intensity, and the less energy the plant is able to absorb. Cloud cover has a similar effect. A good example would be the Hunter in Australia, which is very hot region, but the wines generally have low alcohols due to the cloud cover. But these days the overiding influence on alcohol is fasion and consumer choice.

Compare these Swartland examples (and there are examples from other areas, too) to some 15% ABV red wine that came out of Constantia area recently, it's clear that viticultural and vinification practices are the main deciding factor in the style of wine that results from any area. But with human intervention being equal, temperature and sunlight/light intensity remains the big influencers on alcohol. While we're at it, let's not forget leafroll virus's influence on eventual alcohol. In the final analysis, the producing owners are responsible for the style.