Episode 45 RPM – Telegram Sam

Telegram Sam
Telegram Sam
You’re my main man

Rick first met Sam Lambson in May 2018, shortly after celebrating his 21^st birthday. He was now in his final year of studying for a BSc Oenology degree at the University of Stellenbosch and had just rented some space in the university’s historic Welgevallen Cellar in order to make his first solo batch of wine.

Sam had used his savings, made from a bunch of early entrepreneurial business ventures, to source some exceptional Syrah grapes and, in return for him lending a hand elsewhere during harvest time, fellow winemakers had helped him out by sharing access to their fruit sources and by donating some old barrels.

That initial meeting led to us shaking hands on future UK distribution. Some may recall that his first release of Stars in the Dark, sourced from a vineyard on the rugged coast close to Cape Agulhas, created a notable stir in the market some 12 months later.

Today, Sam is proving to be one of the bright young stars of the Cape wine scene, having developed a particular love and speciality in the making of cool climate Syrah.

However, the growing conditions for the 2023 growing season were a little less kind in the maritime vineyards of the Cape. Elim grapes were indeed harvested, but some parcels were not of the quality expected to be included in the final blend.

So, what to do…? The answer: make a quick call to Rick…

So, with a bit of on the ground detective work from our Cape Crusader, a blend was worked on in October 2024, utilising equally redundant parcels sourced from both De Morgenzon and Miles Mossop.

DMZ Mourvèdre helped to fill out the rather hollow mid-palate of the Syrah, whilst the Cinsault from Miles added a sweet fragrance. The addition of a couple of ‘buckets full’ of Viognier did the same but also gave an unexpected texture to the final blend.

Described here as being a Méridional blend, it’s a term coined by the French for wines of the south, notably the Southern Rhône, where blended wines are commonplace. Something that distinguishes them from the mostly mono-varietal wines of the Septentrional north.

Now, at the ripe old age of 26, Rick still needed to explain the addition of the acronym ‘RPM’ to ‘Episode 45’, a concept somewhat lost to the Spotify generation, along with a potted history of the androgenous epoch of early 1970s Glam Rock…

Automatic shoes
Automatic shoes
Give me three-d vision
And the California blues

I don’t care
I ain’t no square
With my corkscrew hair

Telegram Sam
Telegram Sam…