Only produced in the best years, this Reserve Syrah is Passage Rock's showcase wine.

Rich ripe aromas of dark forest fruit and spice, coffee and vanilla on the nose lead to a dark garnet intensity in the glass. On the palate, toasted nuts and spices vie with dark berries, integrated ripe tannins and lacy acidity. Cellar it for 10 to 15 years

Passage Rock Syrah is made from grapes sourced from Waiheke Island's oldest vines. It has a rich bouquet of black currant, dark plums, blackberry and peppery spices, with core fruit flavours that reflect the bouquet. The palate is textural and perfectly balanced. Enjoy over the next five to 10 years

Commercial description

This deep purple Syrah blossoms with blue fruits and violets, and is directed as if by gravitational force to a subtle undertone of exotic cooking spices. Vibrant and sharply focused, displaying smoke-accentuated nuance on the palate with a plush, velvety texture. Eighteen months in carefully selected French oak barriques with regular bâtonage rounded the tannins, adding to the framework a fine grip and delicate finishing touch. Cellaring Potential: 10 years

From the winery...

Saorsa. A term to describe a radical sense of freedom that represents our philosophy completely. Our aim is to produce honest and sincere wines that are free to sing their own song and truly express themselves and the sites they are grown. Wines of great balance and texture, using what nature provides? time and thought.

Here at Saorsa Wines we make small production wines by hand in the beautiful Hawke?s Bay. We select specific sites that not only have the greatest attributes for exceptional quality but also a unique individuality that manifests in the wine itself. Production is with the lightest of hands, in a traditional manner using everything the grapes bring with them without industrial manipulation and additives.

About the wine...
Aromatic notes of rose petals and dried herbs layered upon liquorice, smoke and earth. Fresh and lively with a seductive silky finish. Our wines are produced with oxygen exposure and develop greatly once opened. Decanting the wines will allow them to truly express themselves.

Vineyards

A blend of two idyllic hillside sites in Hawke?s Bay. One from the Subregion of Paki Paki a gentle North facing slopes with shallow limestone soils. A slightly more inland area of Hawke?s Bay with long hot days and an abundance of sunlight. The second from the steep sandstone over limestone slopes of Roy?s Hill situated high above the Gimbeltt Gravels stoney soils. This presence of light and heat combined with the natural slope of the sites and cooling winds allows our Syrah to boast both masculine and delicate floral tones.

Tavernello is Italy?s number one wine brand and incorporates 27 co-operative wineries, 12000 wine growers, over 32000 hectares of vineyards (that?s 85% of the total area of NZ?s wine production!) and a whopping 9% of Italy?s total wine production.

This wine is a cheeky little number from Sicily and it?s actually 80% Syrah with 15% of Nero d?Avola ? a grape native to this island off the Italian mainland. Fragrant and supple, this wine offers violet, plum, dark berry and pepper spice flavours with an appealing core of subtle fruit sweetness that balances a backbone of ripe and slightly rustic tannins.

One of our favourite wine importers created this tasty, dry, full bodied red from Hawke?s Bay Syrah with the help of talented winemakers. This is a spicy, deep purple, juicy take on the second most planted red in the Bay; Syrah. This wine drinks well now and can age further; try cellaring a couple of bottles for at least five to six years.

Crozes-Hermitage is an appellation in France's northern Rhone Valley where Syrah rules the roost. In fact, Syrah is the only red grape allowed to grow here and in the entire northern Rhone, for that matter. Whites are rare and they're another story.

This big, dark, full bodied red has all the bells and whistles you want to find in high quality French Syrah, namely, ripe dark fruit flavours with aromas of white pepper and savoury spice. It's three years old and still youthful, but drinks well now, decanted. It will continue to age for up to a decade in a good cellar.

Vinification
For vinification, grapes are 100% destemmed, no yeasting. The maceration phase lasts 4 weeks. Pumping over is preferred to cap punching, as it is a gentler extraction method. Vinification temperature never goes above 28°C.

After devatting, the wine is barrelled immediately in demi-muids, where malolactic fermentation takes place. The barrels are mainly one or two wines old.  The wine is racked after 12 months, before spending 3 months in a vat prior to bottling.

100% Syrah from the Schist soils of Domaine Jamet some 4km from Ampuis located on a plateau, known as 'Le Vallin'. Here we find a great variety of terroirs, exposure and vine age which Jamet uses to the max in driving complexity in his wines.

This Cote-Rotie is produced from twenty parcels, using whole bunches, maceration of about three weeks and is ageing in oak for 22 months - 15% new.

The parcels are found in 15 different locations - Fongeant, Cote Blonde, Landonne, Cote Rozier, Plomb, Chavaroche, Moutonnes, Lesardes, Gerine, Truchet, Leyat, Bonnivieres, Cote Bodin, Tartaras and Rochins.

Shockingly good given the difficulties in Crozes during the growing season (it rained - a lot), the 2021 Crozes-Hermitage Silene has a pretty, complex, elegant perfume of red berries, spring flowers, cedary herbs, and pepper, with some classic Northern Rhône bacon fat. Nicely textured, medium-bodied, and elegant, with good ripeness, it's a rock-solid, classic, old school-styled Crozes to enjoy over the coming 7-8 years.

90 Jeb Dunnuck, May 2023

Commercial description

Cote-Rotie "La Turque" is one of the flagship of the Domaine Guigal. A powerful wine with spicy notes, its terroirs from the Cote Brune with “blond accents” lends it a great elegance.

Soil type
Silicone limestone with schistes producing clay soil rich in iron oxyde.

Grape variety
93 % Syrah, 7% Viogner.

Average age of vines
25 years

Winemaking
Thermoregulated stainless steel tanks. Automated punching down. Alcoholic fermentation/4 week maceration.

Ageing
42 months in new oak.

Average yield
35 Hl / hectare.

Tasting notes
Eye : Deep ruby red with dark tints.
Nose : Small red fruit, blackberry, morello cherry Intensely aromatic, powerful and elegant.
Palate : Supple attack with a balanced supple structure, concentration and elegant tannins. Fully expressive of the terroir.
Overall : With all the virility of the Côte Brune, La Turque also has all the subtlety and femininity of the Côte Blonde.

Commercial description

The Côte-Rôtie « La Mouline » is one of the most emblematic of the Guigal domain’s wines. Small quantities are produced each year from a vineyard in the heart of the ‘Côte Blonde’. This is a voluptuous, silky and intensely aromatic wine.

Soil type
Terraced wines in the shape of a Roman amphitheatre. Gneis with lighly coloured silicone soil with limestone lœss.

Grape variety
89 % Syrah, 11 % Viognier.

Average age of vines
about 75 years

Winemaking
Thermoregulated stainless steel tanks. Traditional pumping over. Alcoholic fermentation/ 4 week maceration..

Ageing
42 months in new oak

Average yield
35 Hl / hectare.

Tasting notes
Eye : Ruby red with red vermillion tints.
Nose : Small red fruits, blackberry and floral violet aromas.Intensely aromatic, powerful but full of finesse.
Palate : Supple with balance between the finesse of the aromas and an explosive richness due to the concentration of the wine. Greatly expressive of the terroir.
Overall : A feminine wine with voluptuous silky texture and intense aromas.