Richard Kershaw Wines

Richard Kershaw Wines was established in January 2012 immediately after Richard Kershaw passed the Master of Wine examination in 2011. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Richard travelled extensively in the wine world before settling permanently in South Africa in 1999 to pursue winemaking full-time. He spent more than a decade working in the country's wine industry while completing the rigorous Master of Wine programme, an unusual combination because most Masters of Wine work in the trade or in education rather than in the cellar. On passing the exam he immediately founded his own brand with a singular philosophy: to make site-specific, clonally selected, cool-climate wines from the Elgin Valley, which he had identified as South Africa's coolest district and the country's most promising terroir for Syrah and Chardonnay. The first vintages established the framework that the brand has refined ever since, with Syrah and Chardonnay as the twin focuses.

• Founded January 2012 immediately after Richard Kershaw passed the Master of Wine examination in 2011
• Richard born and raised in the UK; settled in South Africa in 1999 to make wine full-time
• More than a decade working in the South African wine industry before founding his own brand
• Singular philosophy: site-specific, clonally selected, cool-climate wines from Elgin

Richard Kershaw remains South Africa's only winemaking Master of Wine and is one of approximately 10 Masters of Wine worldwide who personally make their own wines, a small and unusually distinguished cohort. The Master of Wine title is widely considered the most demanding qualification in the global wine trade, requiring multiple years of structured study, a battery of blind tasting and theory examinations, and a substantial research paper. The combination of the qualification with hands-on cellar work means Kershaw approaches winemaking with a level of theoretical and analytical rigour that is rare in the trade. The brand's emphasis on parcel-by-parcel microvinification, clonal and soil-specific bottling, and the use of formal data to inform every winemaking decision flows directly from this combination of cellar practice and Master of Wine intellectual training. Kershaw is also active as a judge, educator, and wine writer in the South African industry.

• South Africa's only winemaking Master of Wine; one of around 10 winemaking MWs worldwide
• MW qualification requires multiple years of study, blind tasting, theory exams, and a research paper
• Combination of cellar practice and MW intellectual training informs the brand's analytical approach
• Active as wine judge, educator, and writer in the South African industry alongside winemaking

The intellectual core of the brand is clonal selection: the idea that different clones of the same variety, planted on different soils within the same cool district, produce meaningfully different wines, and that these differences are best understood by vinifying each clone-soil combination separately before deciding whether to blend or to bottle individually. For every grape variety and every block on every site he sources from, Kershaw treats the clone-soil pairing as a distinct unit. The grapes are hand-harvested by parcel, microvinified in small lots, matured separately, and then evaluated blind before any blending decisions are made. Some of the resulting single-clone single-soil lots are kept distinct and released under the Deconstructed label as 250-bottle three-packs, with the clone, the soil type, and the vineyard location explicitly stated on the label. Others are blended into the Clonal Selection flagships. The approach is deeply Burgundian in its faith that clone-and-soil specificity matters and explicitly New World in the willingness to make those differences transparent on the label.

• Every clone-soil pairing treated as a distinct unit and microvinified separately
• Grapes hand-harvested by parcel, matured separately, evaluated blind before blending decisions
• Some single-clone single-soil lots released as Deconstructed three-packs with full labelling transparency
• Approach is Burgundian in faith in clone-and-soil specificity and New World in label transparency

The Clonal Selection Syrah is one of the brand's two flagships and showcases the cool-climate Northern Rhône idiom that Elgin can produce. The wine is built from Syrah clones SH9c, SH22, and (in some vintages) SH29, sourced across five distinct Elgin parcels and microvinified separately before assembly. The result is a wine of white pepper, violet, and red and dark berry over fine, savoury tannins with a saline finish, closer in spirit to a Crozes-Hermitage or Cornas than to a warmer South African Shiraz. The Lake District is the specific vineyard area within Elgin that has yielded the brand's most distinctive Syrah parcels, with the Lake District Cartref Syrah coming from a south-facing block on Cartref soil, a granitic profile with broken stones. The SH9c and SH22 blocks are physically adjacent in the Lake District but produce stylistically distinct wines: the SH9c is the more elegant and red-fruited expression, while SH22 is the more structured, floral, and perfumed clone. Both are released individually in the Deconstructed range alongside the blended Clonal Selection flagship.

• Clonal Selection Syrah: clones SH9c, SH22, and (some vintages) SH29 across five Elgin parcels
• Style: cool-climate Northern Rhône idiom of white pepper, violet, fine tannins, saline finish
• Lake District is the specific Elgin vineyard area producing the brand's most distinctive Syrah parcels
• Lake District Cartref Syrah from a south-facing block on granitic Cartref soil; SH9c and SH22 adjacent but stylistically distinct

The Clonal Selection Chardonnay is the second flagship and applies the same clonal logic to Burgundy's defining white variety. The blend is built from Dijon clones CY76, CY95, and CY96 alongside the ENTAV clone CY548, sourced from 11 different parcels around Elgin. Each clone-soil pairing is microvinified separately, with the parcels handled in a combination of stainless steel and French oak depending on the character of the fruit. Indigenous yeast fermentation is used where possible and the wine spends extended time on lees before bottling. The resulting wine shows lemon zest, white peach, pear, and a marked mineral spine, with significant aging potential reflected in tightly wound acidity and restrained oak influence. Individual single-clone Chardonnays are also released through the Deconstructed series, with three-packs of 250 bottles each specifying the clone and soil profile, providing collectors and students of Chardonnay with a transparent comparison set across clonal expressions.

• Clonal Selection Chardonnay: Dijon clones CY76, CY95, CY96, plus ENTAV clone CY548 across 11 Elgin parcels
• Indigenous yeast fermentation; combination of stainless steel and French oak per parcel character
• Style: lemon zest, white peach, pear, marked mineral spine, restrained oak, significant aging potential
• Individual single-clone Chardonnays released through the Deconstructed series in 250-bottle three-packs

Richard Kershaw Wines has consistently been among the most critically acclaimed South African producers since its founding. The Clonal Selection Syrah and Clonal Selection Chardonnay have both repeatedly featured in 95-plus-point bands across Tim Atkin's South Africa Special Report, Wine Spectator, Decanter, and Wine Advocate ratings. The brand has won South African Wine of the Year awards from major guides and is one of a small handful of producers that critics across multiple international publications regularly include in their best-of-South-Africa lists. The Deconstructed range has been the focus of particular critical fascination, with Jamie Goode and other prominent international wine writers covering the project as an unusually transparent exercise in single-clone single-soil winemaking. The combination of Master of Wine credentials, intellectually rigorous practice, and consistent critical acclaim has made the brand one of South Africa's most cerebral and serious producers, with the Elgin Valley itself benefitting significantly from the international attention.

• Consistent 95-plus point ratings across Tim Atkin, Wine Spectator, Decanter, and Wine Advocate
• Multiple South African Wine of the Year awards from major guides
• Deconstructed range covered as an unusually transparent single-clone single-soil exercise by international writers
• Combination of MW credentials, rigorous practice, and consistent acclaim has helped raise Elgin's international profile