TRINITY HILL GIMBLETT GRAVELS SYRAH 2018

Gold Medal – Hawkes Bay Wine Awards 2020
Gold Medal – Sommelier World Wine Awards 2020

We are seeing the emergence of more sophisticated styles of Hawkes Bay Syrah and the recent successes internationally of these wines reinforces just how good they are. The wine-making has moved to be more akin to Pinot Noir than Cabernet-like. Gentle extraction and around 20-30% whole bunch fermentation is just one example resulting in more finesse and greater complexity and concentration. This is a darkly coloured package of dense, sweet black fruits, spice/cloves, plump yet good back palate mouthfeel.

Winery notes (2018 Vintage)
"The 2018 Syrah has a deep and youthful vibrant crimson colour. Wild raspberry, blueberry, cracked pepper and hints of vanilla bean show on the nose. Powerful and balanced ripe tannins give the wine great savoury structure. Oak plays a supporting role with the wine living on a pure fruit expression. This purity combined with refreshing natural acidity mean there is excellent potential for aging. Development of mineral, gamey characters will result from bottle-age. Great with red meat dishes but especially good with game, particularly with duck and venison. Drink 2017 to 2027."

4 ½ Stars Michael Cooper (2018 Vintage)
"The 2018 vintage is a very age-worthy, supple, medium-bodied red with a floral, peppery bouquet. Estate-grown, hand-harvested and blended with a splash of Viognier (2 per cent), it was matured for eight months in a mix of French oak barriques and 5000-litre oak ovals. Still purple-flushed, it is strongly varietal, with concentrated, plummy, peppery flavours, gently seasoned with oak, a hint of liquorice and gentle tannins. Best drinking 2021+."

4 ½ Stars, Top 5 & Best Buy, Cuisine Syrah Tasting, August 2020 (2018 Vintage)
"Lovely red berry and spicy aromatics on the nose followed up with finesse and purity of dark fruit on the palate. Fantastically handled fruit resulting in elegant, sweet yet dark and savoury fruit flavours. Refreshing and lively acidity with juicy tannins and great oak integration make this an remarkably moreish syrah."

Sommelier Wine Awards 2020 (2018 Vintage)
"An elegant crowd-pleaser, with notes of roses and cherries, some ripe tannins and high acidity." Lucie Hammerschmiedova, Portland Restaurant.
"A savoury wine with black fruit and some black pepper spice, along with lots of meaty, gamey notes too. Its elegant structure makes for a good food-matching wine – this would be lovely with roast lamb." Laura Rhys MS, team leader.

Dan Berger, California Craft Spirits & Central Coast Wine Competition, USA (2018 Vintage)
"Black pepper, violets and a trace of wet earth mark the fascinating aroma, and the medium-plus entry and mid-palate are superb, allowing it to work with a wide array of foods, from red meat to meaty seafood (salmon, tuna). A great wine, and one that will be better in 3-6 more years. For those who are unfamiliar with this New Zealand wine district, nearest to Hawke’s Bay, it is one of the finest growing regions in the world, produces fabulous Cabernet Sauvignons, and most recently has been home to well over a dozen producers of great, peppery Syrahs."