Syrah

Luna winemaker Joel Watson is a devoted fan of Martinborough Syrah but is also candid about how tricky it can be to grow in this dry North Island wine region. His latest is a great example of cool climate Syrah with spicy black pepper aromas leading into a velvet smooth, highly structured wine with a full body and lingering finish thanks to its refreshing acidity. 

The Luna Syrah is made from grapes grown on the winery's Blue Rock Vineyard, which was planted south of Martinborough township in 1997 on a steep north facing slope. The sun shines all day here, providing evening ripening conditions for this late ripening grape variety but the wind also brings its influence to bear, making high crops a marginal prospect in this relatively cool climate. 

This is a stunning wine with huge complexity of clove and peppery spice coupled with dark chocolate and black fruit flavours. What's not to love in this wine. 

This is first Syrah from the Easthope home block where Rod and Emma Easthope live. It's a super tasty Syrah with flavours of roasted fresh espresso, floral notes and aniseed. It was made using 100% whole bunch fermentation and aged in puncheons, 20% new with 12 months on lees.
The grapes in this wine were grown on an inland elevated vineyard which is planted in a clone of Syrah known as the Bayley?s clone, selected from the Bayley?s Vineyard in Victoria and brought into New Zealand by Riversun in Gisborne.  

Grenache noir (37%), Syrah (29 %), Mourv?dre (27 %), Cinsault (7%) from vines with an average age of 40 years. The nose shows cassis, black tea and dried flower elements that lead to a complex, fruit driven palate with an impressive tannin structure. Beautifully balanced with great length - this wine will keep for decades.

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.

Calatayud, a small appellation in the heart of Arag6n, Spain. A hidden valley and home to the red garnacha grape. A valley where the working conditions are difficult for the farmers. Rough slate soils, old bush vines planted on steep slopes up to 1,100m, hot summers and cold winters where rainfall is scarce and the wind is
always blowing. Furthermore, they have to deal with a fragmented landscape of small parcels and rarely have a successor for their years of hard labour. It's tough and challenging, and yet, they understand the value of their soil and grapes, each plot providing a distinct character to the grape compared to its neighbour. Las Pizarras (the slate soils) is our range showcasing the diversity of the region. Named after the town or plot the grapes originate from, each wine in the collection expresses its unique character, but all are born out of soil, nature and the right human touch.

FABLA is a language used in several places in the north of the autonomic
community of Arag?n for over 1.000 years. Today is used by just 12.000 people.

Harvest: End of September, beginning of October
Clasification: Calatayud DO
Grape varieties: 80% Garnacha 20% Syrah
Vinification: Direct incubation and fermentation for 15 days at no more than
16 degrees Celsius to preserve all the fresh fruit of the Garnacha.
Ageing: 30% of the Garnacha is aged 3 months in barrel

TASTING NOTES
Intense cherry red colour. Typical Garnacha with aromas of ripe red fruit,
prunes, figs and some black pepper and minerality.

The pairing suggestion - lamb stew, carrots, courgettes and a couple of black olives

Clape Cornas exemplifies the robust character and unique terroir of the Cornas appellation. The vineyards are rooted in granite-rich soils which lends a distinct minerality and depth to the wine. 

Traditional winemaking techniques including whole-cluster fermentation, and maturation in old oak foudres enhance the wine's complexity and structure which unfolds with Syrah's intense flavours of dark berries, blackcurrants and smoked meats. Earthy undertones, black pepper and violet notes emerge on the long finish. and firm tannins and vibrant acidity suggest excellent ageing potential.

Dry delicious Hawke's Bay rose is one of this country's most under rated pink wines and this beautiful medium bodied version is a stellar example. Try it, preferably with a great cheese alongside.

Legal academic, property dealer and vigneron, Rene Rostaing crafts some of the finest Cote Roties on the market today. He has owned 2 hectares in the C?te Blonde and La Landone since the 1970s but fortune has blessed him through his inheritance of four hectares of superbly sited vineyards from his father in law Albert Dervieux and another 1.4 hectares of particularly old vines from his uncle Marius Gentaz. He now has 7.4 hectares which in Cote Rotie terms is a significant holding. Rostaing is firmly in the modernist camp of Cote R?tie producers, destemming the majority of his fruit and being one of the first producers to ferment using vinomatics (horizontal automatic vinifiers). However he dislikes the overt taste of new oak and uses a maximum of 15% in the maturation process. All the wines are bottled unfiltered.

Squawking Magpie Stoned Crow Syrah is one of the jewels in Hawke's Bay's red wine crown with great consistency every vintage. It's one of our favourite full bodied New Zealand Syrahs in store and is a single vineyard wine which will reward lovers of spicy dry reds with its great cellarability as well as its deliciously plump fruit forward style right now. 

Age it for 10 years to see where the fun really starts with complex deeply flavoursome Syrah.  

Organically farmed Pinot Noir and Syrah from Martinborough and Bridge Pa.

A savoury, crunchy, whole bunch offering sitting at a Pinot Noir weight with flavours that are firmly Syrah

Vineyard:
The Pinot Noir comes from the excellent Grava vineyard which is certified
organic, farmed by Alistair and Karla. The vines are grown on the terraces of
the Ruamahanga river providing alluvial deposits making silt loam soils.

The Syrah comes from the prestigious Bridge Pa Triangle and is also farmed
organically. These soils are free-draining red metal soil, overlaid by alluvium-derived loess, volcanic ash, and greywacke, a composite left behind by the Ngaruroro River that once flowed through the valley thousands of years earlier.

Winemaking:
The Pinot was hand picked and destemmed to a fermenter that was 2 days later topped with hand picked whole bunch syrah. Gentle cap management during fermentation and lightly pressed off of skins 10 days later. The wine was left
to age in seasoned french barrels and undergo malolactic fermentation for 7
months. Racked to tank, the LDR is bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Tasting Notes:
A light savoury style wine with aromas of tamarillo, redcurrants and whole
bunch stemminess. Undertones of cherries, spice and crunchy woody herbs add to
feel that the wine is equal parts savoury and vibrantly fresh.

Technical Notes:
pH 3.79, Titratable acidity 5.4g/L, Residual sugar- dry

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.

From Mullineux Wines

The aim with our Syrah is to give true and complete expression to the Shale & Schist and Granite terroirs in which the vines grow. Approximately half the grapes are whole-bunch fermented and all fermentation is with indigenous yeasts. The wine is aged for 11 months in French oak, 15% new. The wine is bottled unfiltered and unfined.

TASTING NOTES
This perfumed Syrah has notes of spicy citrus rind, refined black fruit, violets and lilies. The palate is elegant and restrained with a silky texture balanced by a fresh, natural acidity. The finish is long with supple tannins. Best served at 16 to 18 ?C, this wine will greatly benefit from decanting if drunk within the first 3 to 5 years after bottling.

Matahiwi winemaker Miles Dineen is a dab hand at Syrah. He uses grapes from the sunny Hawke's Bay to produce this outstanding expression of spicy, ripe plum flavours from the gorgeous Syrah grape. 

This wine is top value for money from one of the great Syrah winemakers in this country; it is one of his favourite grapes and we're sure this wine will be too - try it.