Syrah

Serine Syrah 2007

Hand harvested at low yields and aged in French oak for 18 months. Much of this wine finds its way into our premium blend of Syrah. What does not goes into Serine. Named after the old clone of Syrah thought to have originated in the Rhône valley, and to which our original clone may have a connection. Dense ruby edged colour, perfumed nose with floral, jasmine scents. Rich spicy fruit flavours – black cherries, wild berries. Nicely integrated soft lingering finish.

Syrah 2007

Hand picked at very low yields and hand plunged in open fermenters, aged in French oak (30% new) for 18 months. Dense dark ruby colour, lovely dense haunting bouquet of cloves and floral notes. Dense dark plumy fruit with mineral and spice overtones, finishing with a clean lingering fresh taut spine. This wine will age forever.

Serine Syrah 2005

Medium magenta in colour with purple edges. Fresh floral notes with berryfruit tones. Medium weight sweet fruit of dark plums and cherries with a long fine palate finishing with a slight twist of tannin and spice. Aged in barrel for 18 mths. Easy drinking now, and will cellar well.

Syrah 2005

Dark crimson in colour, this wine has beautiful berryfruit and floral notes in the bouquet. The palate is dominated with sweet cherry and black plum fruit notes with a fine textured spicey finish with great length.
Aged in french oak for 18 months. Best cellared for a year or two. Will age extremely well.

Young Vine Syrah 2005

Medium magenta colour with a lovely complex scent of flowers and berries. Easy drinking soft medium weight palate with flavours of dark cherries and a touch of cinnamon. Aged in barrel for 18 months.

Serine Syrah 2004

Now here is a new one. The 04 Syrah simply did not come up to what I wanted for our usual release, so has come out under another label. This could be an error of judgement on my part, but at least to your benefit. The name Serine is fitting in that it is a synonym for Syrah viticulturally speaking. But further to that, there is supposedly an old clone of Syrah which was known as Serine. It is possible (but not substantiated) that the original clone we planted from Busby’s original import, is Serine. The wine has medium-dense colour with bright ruby edges, beautiful floral aromatics of jasmine and cinnamon. The palate is medium weight rather than monster. Lovely vibrant fruit notes of blackberry, black plums and spice, finishing with a soft almost velvet textured tannin. Nicely integrated with good balance.

Young Vine Syrah 2004

We have a lot of new Syrah coming on in the vineyard, including some new French clones under trial. This fruit has traditionally been used for Crofters blends until now. The volumes now permit a single wine to be made from this fruit. Aged in seasoned French oak for 14 months. The aromatics are beautiful and fresh, floral with hints of violets, followed by a medium density palate with hints of cassis, plums and cinnamon, finishing with a nice twist of spice.

Syrah 2003

Bright deep red of violet/purple tones. Lively aromatics of berryfruits with floral notes. Dark cherry flavours on a soft, velvet texture palate finishing with a finely textured lingering profile of mineral and spice.

Syrah 2002

Dense ruby colour with violet edges. The aromatics are of cedar and wild berryfruit, and the palate is of ripe flavours and plums and spices – cloves?, with a slightly firm but ripe tannin grip thru the finish. This wine would be in the style of the ‘97’98 versions, but with more stuffing. A blend of our older (18yr ) vines and the young ones (10yr) from both vineyard sites. Should age extremely well. Vintage ’02 was very good for Syrah.

Syrah 2001

Aroma of berry fruits with a touch of forest floor are followed by a plummy, fruit driven mid palate and a soft, velvet, spicy tannin finish. This wine has some interesting nuances to savour, linger and converse over. Elegant, elusive, complex - a chameleon.

Syrah 1999

The best vintage in recent times provided some excellent fruit from both vineyards for this variety. A longer, more temperate season seemed to suit this variety better than '98, delivering an excellent range of well developed fruit flavours. Dense, ripe, complex berry fruit aromas are followed by a complete, balanced fruit driven mid palate with a long sensuous, almost velvet like finish. A wine with balance and harmony, this example is a blend of both sites, providing a complexity and range of ripe fruit flavours. I would also rate this wine ahead of the '98 Syrah.

Syrah 1998

Such a hot, intense summer would probably be expected to produce something looking like a Barossa Shiraz. Oddly, this is not the case and in fact this wine is very much in the style of previous releases, but benefiting from some blended components from the newer Tokarahi Vineyard fruit, with the older Mere Road vines. Dense wild berry fruit nose is followed with a dense, intense Syrah mid palate and a long lingering spicy finish.