Syrah 2020

Two vineyards have been blended to make this supple Syrah. Clone 470 from the Bridge Pa Triangle and MS Syrah from Mangatahi. The Bridge Pa fruit was plush and dark fruited, while the Mangatahi Syrah had lovely vibrancy and elegance, a wonderful combination. Both vineyards are Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand accredited, with low yields, open canopy management and managed irrigation.

The hand harvested Syrah was chilled overnight, followed by hand sorting the next morning. The chilled bunches were then de-stemmed and whole berries transferred to open fermenters with some foot stomping. The addition of some whole bunches to the ferments occurred. The berries were cold soaked and when ambient temperature was reached the indigenous yeast had initiated fermentation. Two pump overs a day at cool temperatures was the regime and an addition of cultured yeast ensured a clean dry finish to fermentation. The Syrah was then pressed to French barriques, new and 1 year old for approximately 17 months, blending in October 2021 and bottled in November 2021.

A supple, richly textured Syrah which has a base of black fruited berries and sweet fruit fragrance. Ripe Syrah is plush and mouthfilling and the subtle fine grained French oak provides underlying poise and aids structural integrity to this fine wine. A combination of purity of fruit and restrained elegance which will unfold beautifully with age. Alcohol: 13.5% Total acidity: 6.2 g/l