Estate Vineyards Syrah has a touch of white Viognier, a traditional winemaking technique in France’s Rhône Valley. It introduces a delightful floral aroma and supple texture to Syrah’s spicy dark-berry flavours.
Bright red with a purple hue, a glass of Estate Vineyards Syrah ’15 is like opening a spicebox. It overflows with cherry, blackberry, boysenberry, thyme, pepper and the irresistible scents of Black Doris plum and vanilla. There’s floral lift and charm here, but also a supple palate with luxurious savoury fruit and enticing notes of red and black liquorice. The perfume and depth of this syrah is matched by its fine, textural expression, balance and soft, even tannins
Estate Vineyards Syrah ’15 will continue to evolve in bottle for two to four years from harvest.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
pH 3.7
Total acidity as tartaric 5.8g/l
Alcohol 13.0%
Residual Sugar Dry
WINEMAKING
The syrah grapes were combined with 2% of viognier, then destemmed and co-fermented. The resulting wine remained on skins for extended maceration before pressing. It was then run off to a mixture of new and seasoned French oak barrels for seven months’ maturation, during which time it was regularly topped and racked. The wine received a traditional egg white fining before being bottled in March 2016.
VINEYARDS
Estate Vineyards Syrah ’15 was harvested between the 7th and 21st April 2015 from Te Mata Estate’s own vineyards in Hawke’s Bay’s Woodthorpe Terraces and Bridge Pa Triangle sub-regions.
ORIGIN
The co-fermentation of Syrah with small amounts of the white grape variety, Viognier, is a traditional winemaking technique in France's northern Rhone Valley. The addition of Viognier introduces a perfume/floral aroma to the soft red berry and spice flavours of Syrah.