OnTap Magazine

S ean Harrisonmet one afternoon with a winemaker he knew and for whom he had done some branding work. On the table next to them sat a bottle of Shiraz and a bottle of Syrah, both made by this particular winemaker. Having tried both, Sean decided that the Syrah was a little “feminine” for his liking, and the Shiraz rather bold. He poured a bit of each into a glass, swirled it around, sipped it, and then announced, “I think this tastes better.” This revelation did not initially thrill the winemaker, but Sean’s friend Marcel Hartman, who also happened to be there, agreed with him. The winemaker then made the blend for them, which they named “Somesay,” short for: “Some say Shiraz, some say Syrah.” Pleased with their experimental product, Sean and Marcel then thought: ‘We should start a brand!’ And that is how Harry Hartman Wine Co. was born: over a polemic glass of wine. SOMETHING DIFFERENT Sean, a graphic designer by trade, has spent his career creating and designing numerous brands and wine labels, getting to know winemakers and generally operating in the wine industry, all the while remaining somewhat on the outside. With the Harry Hartman Wine Co., Sean has the opportunity not only to venture further inside, but also to do things a little differently. South Africa, Sean tells me, has at times suffered from an undeserved inferior global reputation in the wine arena. He feels that some of the country’s cheapest wine brands have been marketed far and wide, resulting in South Africa not always being recognised as a quality producer. And this is Sean’s point: people still do not understand the value of the Western Cape and what it has to offer geographically and climatically. “What we have is the diversity of the peninsula, well, the whole of the wine-growing region, actually. We have really warm regions like in Stellenbosch, and we have super high elevation like in Cederberg, where it’s flippin’ cold.” Sean argues that it’s their job, as an industry, to elevate South Africa’s reputation, and the only way to do that is to educate people and get them to understand why South Africa is different from France or countries in the “New World” like Australia or Argentina. When they launched their brand in 2019 with Somesay, very few people knew that Syrah and Shiraz are the same varietal, meaning, made from the same grape. They are, however, associated with different styles of wine. Syrah was the original name, whereas Shiraz became the “New World” name, given by the Australians. Syrahs tend to be lighter in body and alcohol, while Shiraz canbe richer and fuller inbody. These differences early on stemmed largely from the differing conditions in which the grapes were grown. France is unlikely to produce a Shiraz, whereas in Australia, that’s all you’ll find, again, reflecting different climates and other environmental factors. But in South Africa, you can successfully grow both. “Half of [the grapes for] this bottle,” Sean says, pointing to Somesay, “we can grow in the Ceres Plateau, and it’s almost like a Pinot Noir, it’s so elegant, and the other half can be grown here in Stellenbosch, where it’s hot as hell, and it’s peppery and spicy, and you blend them together and you get something… different.” That “something different” ended up winning Five Stars in the well- known wine guide, Platters. THE “MYSTS” OF ELGIN The desire to use their wines to showcase in this way has influenced how they source their product. “We don’t buy liquids, we have relationships with winemakers,” Sean emphasizes, noting that certain of these winemakers he hopes will “make our Harry Hartman Wine Co. team. ontapmag.co.za | Winter 2024 | 31