Winemaker Notes
An aroma of blueberry and red cherries with spicy, savory notes and white pepper. The palate has elegance and fruit flavors of fresh plum and red cherry, hints of black pepper and a long spicy finish. A bright food friendly wine, the palate is velvety soft while the finish is firm with fine
tannins.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
This is a muscular Syrah that comes in at an agreeable 13% alcohol. It’s a bit shy at first but after plenty of swirling opens into a nose of tangy berry fruit backed by black olives, cracked pepper and lovely stony mineral and sanguine characters. There’s a good lick of toasty, spicy oak on display here as well. The palate is dense, a gauzy layer of tannins over plush fruit and oak-derived spice. While this lacks some vibrancy and tension, it’s nonetheless a solid drop for big red wine lovers.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
An eclectic region on the east coast of the North Island, Hawkes Bay extends from wide, fertile, coastal plains, inland, to the coast range, whose peaks reach as high as 5,300 feet. While the flatter areas were historically more popular because they are easier to cultivate, their alluvial soils can be too fertile for vines. In the late 20th century, the drive for quality led growers to the hills where soils are free-draining, limestone-rich and more suited to producing high quality wines.
Over the passing of time, the old Ngaruroro River laid down deep, gravelly beds, which were subsequently exposed after a huge flood in the 1860’s. In the 1980s growers identified this stretch, which continues for approximately 800 ha, and named it the Gimblett Gravels. The zone has proven to be ideal for the production of excellent red wines, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
Today the area takes well-earned recognition for its Bordeaux blends and other reds. Expressive of intense stewed red and black berry with gentle herbaceous characters, Gimblett Gravels wines are suggestive of their cool climate origin, and on par with other top-notch Bordeaux blends around the globe.
Chardonnay is the top white grape in Hawkes Bay, making elegant wines, strong in stone fruit character. Sauvignon blanc comes in close behind, notable for its tropical, fruit forward qualities.