My year of wine: Yes, syrah in the blaze of summer

Drnking syrah in the mid-summer heat of the Klein Karoo could be considered mad.

Typically, in my home, a dark, full-bodied red wine like a syrah, also known as shiraz in the new world, is drunk with bold, meaty dishes on a cool day. In this case, it was taken with cold leftover boerewors and perfectly ripe sweet melon.

After the Christmas week of drinking dry chilled white wines, acid levels were high and organ discomfort was felt, and there was general reluctance to head for another bottle.

To cure all this, I had a plan. Among the multiple bottles of white wines I packed the red for a special moment (at the price I paid, it was going to be very special).

Before our week in the Karoo I had popped into Signal Hill Winery in Cape Town where I met its owner, Parisian-born winemaker Jean-Vincent Ridon. Ridon makes his wines from grapes grown in the city and with others brought in from further afield.

On Ridon's shelf I spotted Signal Hill Clos D'Oranje Syrah 2008. I snapped it up immediately. New to the city bowl, I was most excited about finding a vineyard, Clos D'Oranje, on an empty plot among the expensive houses of Oranjezicht. I had driven past it enviously. I will never own that land, or a vineyard. At least I could try the wine.

The moment arose. The company was perfect, the food not too bad. The children were happy. As the sun set behind the Langeberg, we popped open the bottle.

It was perfect. No horrible gut-wrenching harshness but not enough in the bottle to inebriate the adults. We chatted. We laughed. We spoke about the spicy and berry aromas in the wine.

The vintage, the blogger of the Amsterdam Confessions of a Shallow Man wrote after a tasting in the Netherlands, ''was as cheeky as a Dutchman asking to split the bill on a first date". He said the 2006 was the best vintage of Clos D'Oranje - it was love at first sight.

"Perfectly balanced, with a medium sweetness, and a great body."

Excited to have found a winner, I kept secret that I had a bottle of straw wine from the same winery to open on New Year's Eve. Sadly, very sadly, the sweet wine - I forget the vintage - was vile.

I opened it with great aplomb as the clock struck midnight on December 31 and poured 10 little glasses. Every one of us neglected to drink it.

It was rough like sandpaper, something I could cook up with sugar and water. Maybe it was past its sell-by date.

I'll focus on the syrah. This season's harvest is due on Valentine's Day. I'll be watching out for Shallow Man's review of the 2015 in years to come. It's bound to be saucy.