Syrah

An outstanding vintage from Hawke's Bay, potentially the best ever. The Stone Syrah from Elephant Hill is part of the winery's Elemental range of wines, which champions the sub regions of Hawke's Bay. This wine represents the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowing District, which encompasses a vast 800+ hectares in the Bay and where stony soils absorb warmth, aid drainage and help ripen late harvested grapes such as Syrah. This wine accentuates the spicy overtones and beautiful dark plum aromas of great Syrah. .

A great Syrah made from grapes grown onto different sites in the Gravels, including clay soils and limestone soils, which provide different depths of flavour and complexity to the grapes. The wine is deep purple in colour and flavour with approachable floral prettiness and appeal supported by notes of clove, one of the hallmarks flavours of Syrah. The finished wine was aged for 17 months in French oak, includes small 228 litre and larger 500 & 600 litre puncheons, 29% new.

This is a complex spicy little number with deliciously approachable smoothness and body. A welcome new addition to winemaker Gordon Russell's Esk Valley wines.

This new addition to the Esk Valley stable of wines is a lighter, more fragrant expression of Syrah, which represents a bit of a style departure from its siblings made from grapes grown on the Gimblett Gravels.
In this case, the wine is made from grapes grown on a 1.1 hectare vineyard at the top of The Terraces Vineyard at Bay View, just north of Napier city. The warmth of the limestone soils and the cooling sea breezes combine to ripen Syrah grapes slowly with hot days and cool nights, providing floral aromas supported by depth of dark fruit, black olive and fleshy red fruit notes. All grapes were hand picked and fermented as a mix of whole cluster bunches and destemmed fruit in a single concrete fermenter with wild yeasts. 

It?s made in small volumes and will age for up to and beyond 10 years.

Vineyard Sites - Cornerstone Vineyard lies at the heart of the renowned Gimblett Gravels viticultural region, strategically positioned at the junction of Gimblett Road and State Highway 50 in Hawke?s Bay. This area is celebrated as New Zealand?s premier Bordeaux red grape-growing region, and it?s easy to see why. The vineyard?s unique terroir, composed of riverbed stones and gravels, challenges the vines, leading them to produce a limited yield of small, intensely coloured, and flavourful berries. The resulting grapes give rise to wines with rich, mouth-filling tannins and a depth of character that speaks to the harsh yet rewarding growing conditions. 

Vinification - The grapes were carefully handpicked and fermented in small, open vats. Traditional hand-plunging techniques were used to gently extract the rich flavours and colour. After fermentation, the wine underwent varying degrees of post-ferment skin contact to enhance complexity before being pressed off. The wine then proceeded to malolactic fermentation and was aged in French oak barriques, with 30% of the barrels being new, adding subtle layers of oak influence and refinement. 

Tasting Notes - Boasting an inky, deep ruby hue, this wine offers aromas of stewed red fruits, hints of raspberry jam, black cherry, black plum, and violets. Subtle light cedar and toast are so well knitted you almost miss them. On the palate, flavours of cooked red plum and hints of tobacco emerge.  The finish is long, with fruit carrying right through. An outstanding wine, perfect to drink now or age.

?Rich, intense, almost luscious syrah with ripe blackberry, cassis, vanilla, pepper, spice, anise and classy oak flavours. A concentrated wine that keeps revealing different nuances of flavour on its lingering finish. Should develop well with bottle age.? ? Bob Campbell MW

?The beautiful 2013 vintage was estate-grown in The 8 Vineyard and matured for 16 months in French oak barriques (60 per cent new). Set to flourish for a decade, it is finely scented and deeply coloured, with substantial body, dense, ripe blackcurrant, plum and spice flavours, a hint of licorice, very fine-grained tannins, and lovely richness and harmony.? ? Michael Cooper

 ?100% Waiheke coastal single site ?The 8 Vineyard?. Hand-tended vines, tiny crop yields and a masterful combination of 6x ?class A? syrah clones, combine to produce a rich, elegant and complex wine that proudly expresses this unique and spiritual piece of earth. 16 months in 75% new French barriques. Unfined and minimally filtered. Cellar at 13-15 ?C. Drink: 2018 ? 2028? ? Winemaker?s notes

Fromm Vineyard Syrah is grown solely at Fromm?s Home Vineyard in the Wairau Valley, which is certified organic with BioGro NZ. 

This is an intensely flavoursome Syrah with dark, delicious black fruit flavours and complex earthy notes of cedar, toasted spice and notes of oak. Winemaker Hatsch Kalberer blends three per cent of the white grape, Viognier, into this full bodied wine, to add depth and fleshy appeal. He suggests this wine has at least five years? of aging potential up its sleeve so it can be enjoyed now and cellared. Buy two bottles to do both. 

Dark and spicy, full bodied and complex. A wine to drink now and to keep. Giesen's Clayvin Syrah has aromas of blueberry, plum, cinnamon and nutmeg with aniseed notes leading into a powerful palate full of texture and concentration with a lingering savoury finish. Whole bunches make up a component of this wine, which add depth, weight, structure and spicy notes. 

Clayvin was the first hillside vineyard in Marlborough and is now certified organic and is home to a small number of Syrah vines. 

This is a savoury, smooth, silky Syrah that drinks really well right now with lovely earthy flavours from developing in the bottle over five years. This wine was made with grapes grown on two different vineyard sites in Marlborough, including the certified organic Clayvin Vineyard and also a portion of grapes from the Ridge Block. 

Intense pepper and exotic florals on the nose merge with vanilla-saturated plum, cherry and boysenberry - plump tannins and smooth succulence round out the finish.

Elegant and robust Syrah from the hand of Rod McDonald - one of New Zealand's masters with this varietal. Plush dark fruit forward flavours lead into a full bodied, dry and spicy Syrah with a long and savoury finish.

Nestled under the watchful eye of Napier Hill, in Pandora lies the home of Ka Tahi Wines. They have a commitment to crafting great wine for you. Wines to celebrate their state-of-the-art technology and winemaking facilities are located at the Hawke’s Bay Wine Company in Pandora, Napier. http://www.katahiwines.com/

Gorgeous dark spicy Syrah with mana and a long track record from 15 year old vines grown on the Kindy Block on Waiheke Island; part of the original Goldwater Estate Vineyard. 

This superb full bodied Syrah is now made by winemaker Kelly Washington, who uses 85% destemmed grapes with 15% whole bunches in the ferment to lift aromatic appeal and enhance softness. Wild yeast fermentation started the winemaking and the juice was then innoculated with a Syrah yeast strain. It's aged for 12 months in a mix of French oak barrels and a puncheon, 21% of the oak is new with the balance being neutral and second fill barrels with a medium toast to allow the fruit to shine rather than the oak. 

Fleshy, concentrated black fruit comes to the fore on the palate of this lively wine, which is supported by savoury, spicy notes, firm tannins and bright acidity.

This wine is in conversion to BioGro organic.