Hawkes Bay Syrah

[Craig(NZ).]

instead of changing the below thread topic i thought id post here

2002 was a great HB syrah vintage in terms of number of labels and number of stunners. Ive tried most of them over the past 12 months My picks are:

Value for money and great quality

2002 Vidals -amazing value, stunning $26
2002 Vidals Solar - bigger deeper richer, needs some time $30
2002 Unison - absolutely stunning wine at $35
2002 Mission Jewelstone - A bit more rhone like, complex, a little lighter
2002 Craggy Block 14 - Deep fruit driven blackberry and pepper $35
2002 Mills Reef Elspeth - Big, savoury, layered, fantastic value at $40

More expensive

2002 Craggy Le Sol (More fruit driven bold style) $75. Hard to get hold of in NZ now
2002 Bilancia La Collina (More Rhone and complex in style) $75

I think Syrah is the future of hawkes bay. It has more spunk than the bdx blends, they are richer, fuller and riper. Even in average vintages the syrah seems to perform exceptionally well (eg 1999 Matariki)

Also to answer the question on the 1998 Vidals Solar Cabernet. It is a sensational NZ Cabernet. You could say it is NZs Penfolds 707. (It reminds me a bit of the 1994 Penfolds 707). Ive tasted it several times but never bought it as it is $90 and on release I could buy a magnum of 98 Coleraine for $99 so it dont take a genius to work out where the $$ went. But I would recomend it as a good wine to go head to head with an aussie cab. It has powdery tannins, very black fruited, blackberry and boysenberry type fruit spectrum and it is very big and expansive. If someone said it was NZs best ever 100% cabernet I wouldnt be pushing to argue with too much ammo. It isnt as complex or fine as a top waiheke or coleraine, but it certainly has the size, ripeness and flavour. It has the potential to develop in the cellar. It (like most top 98 HB reds) is still a few years from its best.

C.

[Gavin Trott]

instead of changing the below thread topic i thought id post here

2002 was a great HB syrah vintage in terms of number of labels and number of stunners. Ive tried most of them over the past 12 months My picks are:

Value for money and great quality

2002 Vidals -amazing value, stunning $26
2002 Vidals Solar - bigger deeper richer, needs some time $30
2002 Unison - absolutely stunning wine at $35
2002 Mission Jewelstone - A bit more rhone like, complex, a little lighter
2002 Craggy Block 14 - Deep fruit driven blackberry and pepper $35
2002 Mills Reef Elspeth - Big, savoury, layered, fantastic value at $40

More expensive

2002 Craggy Le Sol (More fruit driven bold style) $75. Hard to get hold of in NZ now
2002 Bilancia La Collina (More Rhone and complex in style) $75

I think Syrah is the future of hawkes bay. It has more spunk than the bdx blends, they are richer, fuller and riper. Even in average vintages the syrah seems to perform exceptionally well (eg 1999 Matariki)

Also to answer the question on the 1998 Vidals Solar Cabernet. It is a sensational NZ Cabernet. You could say it is NZs Penfolds 707. (It reminds me a bit of the 1994 Penfolds 707). Ive tasted it several times but never bought it as it is $90 and on release I could buy a magnum of 98 Coleraine for $99 so it dont take a genius to work out where the $$ went. But I would recomend it as a good wine to go head to head with an aussie cab. It has powdery tannins, very black fruited, blackberry and boysenberry type fruit spectrum and it is very big and expansive. If someone said it was NZs best ever 100% cabernet I wouldnt be pushing to argue with too much ammo. It isnt as complex or fine as a top waiheke or coleraine, but it certainly has the size, ripeness and flavour. It has the potential to develop in the cellar. It (like most top 98 HB reds) is still a few years from its best.

C.

Hi Craig

I've not tried most of these, I'm sad to say, but agree with you, from my limited tasting, on Hawkes Bay and Shiraz/Syrah.

Had some great Mills Reef, Craggy Range is very good, and I like the overall 'style' of them, intense without the Australian style flesh/alcohol (I know, huge generalisation).

Any others tried these, your impressions?

[Anonymous]

After a recent trip to Hawkes Bay I would have to agree that syrah was the pick of the bunch (many Chardonnays also worth a look into). I'm am not a fan of merlot blends, so the merlot cabs didn't get me excited.

I managed to bring two cases back to Australia, however it is very difficult to find and buy many of these wines in our country. Importing from NZ is taxed beyond belief.

[Geoffrey]

Craig,
For me the jury is still out on New Zealand syrah. Before xmas a group of us did a tasting of 10 top Syrahs from the 2002 vintage. The cheapest being the Esk Valley (nz $35) though to the Craggy Range Le Sol (nz$75).

The group found the wines to have lovely spice and pepper, good colour all from young vines. They tended to be more in a Rhone style but due to depth of colour and plalte weight they could be mistaken for Australian.
The only problem was the high prices some of them are commanding which is not warranted yet.

It would be interesting to go back and taste these wines in another 5 years.

Cheers
Geoffrey

[Craig(NZ).]

The group found the wines to have lovely spice and pepper, good colour all from young vines. They tended to be more in a Rhone style but due to depth of colour and plalte weight they could be mistaken for Australian.

How is the Jury out on that?? Its about time some full bodied kiwi reds exhibited weight and depth. And I know it is a sin too look too Australian but really the oak handling sets them apart from Australia. American oak tends to impart some reasonably obvious flavours.

The only problem was the high prices some of them are commanding which is not warranted yet.

Yet? What do you need to warrent a high price? A Parker frenzy?? Some of them maybe highly pitched, but many of them are bargins. Thinking especially of unison, vidals solar, vidals, mission jewelstone, even craggy block 14 is good value. Sure there are some cheeky buggars out there eg Trinity Hill etc but pricing is a part of marketing so hey - let the suckers who get fleeced have fun

It would be interesting to go back and taste these wines in another 5 years.

Well ive had a bit of experience with cellaring now. I have a funny feeling they will cellar better than NZ bdx blends. To me for a wine to cellar well you need good fruit weight+concentration and good structure for starters. They have a head start in those categories. Will have to wait and see.

I reckon the vidals solar will do 10 years no problem and the unison should do well - not that im an advocate of the "for a wine to be good it must cellar x years" junk.

C

[Geoffrey]

Craig,

You are right some of the New Zealand Syrah wines have depth, colour and body as does similar wines from France and Australia but they only command half the prices, NZ Syrah doesn't offer anything different to the wine world. I always like to support the kiwi wine industy but I'm not stupid enough to purchase Syrah/Shiraz in the NZ$40+ bracket from a kiwi vineyard knowing that i can get just as good quality if not better wine from France or Australia for nz$20-$40.

I don't agree that the use of French oak instead of American is a great point of difference between NZ and Aust as a lot of the kiwi Syrahs in the tasting were heavily oaked, i think you would find lighter use of oak in most french syrah.

Most wine in the world that command high prices have a good track record of cellaring well. NZ Syrah has no such record. I'm not really sure that Syrah wine made in a cooler climate than the proven homes of the grape would cellar well. Because of the climate in NZ not being as warm they are cropped lower and left on the vine much longer to ripen which can lead to high acid and break down varietal flavours and with lots of oak in some of those wines tasted I'm not sure which is going to out live which in the bottle.

I should not be at home this evening writing this but because of a bad cold ive had to pass on going to the Te Mata Estate tasting which is showcasing all its lastest releases, their red wines have a proven track record at cellaring and i am prepared to play reasonable money for those wines.

Geoffrey

[Mark G]

Man you guys are fickle ... I've had a few NZ syrahs and I've been most impressed. They are not aussie shiraz's for sure and on the few I've had they had a more "candied" nose and palate, but overall excellent weight and depth.

To worry about the price, or whether they'll age in any specific way seems a bit silly. They are at the top end, and an entry point into the rarified air of good shiraz's (slash SV) and I believe they're worth the price of entry.

My cellar has a whole range of shiraz's to accommodate many many styles, thank goodness for that, and I look forward to my next hand delivered package of Le Sol and Bullnose as I expect them to be wonderful expressions of NZ syrah!

Cheers

Mark G

[Maximus]

Mark,

I tried the current vintage Bullnose on Sunday night. It really surprised me - my first Hawkes Bay Syrah. I thought there was a real pencil shavings and concentrated berry fuit character on the nose and the wine was very well made with a gentle tannin finish. I was impressed. Not too dear either and with seven of us there, I consumed well over half the bottle myself. Hanging out for the Le Sol...

[Craig(NZ).]

I cant see how anyone could say $35 for Unison Syrah or $30 for vidals solar is not good value for money.

Does say Vidal Solar compete with say Grant Burge Filsal at the same price point? Yes I believe it does

As for the one vintage mega buck cowboys i totally agree with you and on the vfm of wines like coleraine, again totally concur but dont say that too loud im sure john buck wants to retire soon

C.