• French oak
• Dark plum & raspberry
• Cake spice & milk chocolate
• Silky texture

"Attractively fruited and beautifully fragrant, the bouquet shows dark plum, mulberry, dried herb, cake spice and almond characters. The palate delivers elegant weight and supple mouthfeel backed by silky texture and chalky tannins, finishing persistent and delicately dry. At its best: now to 2024" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jul 2020

"One of the most impressive Syrahs yet from anywhere south of Hawke's Bay, the 2018 vintage was harvested from vines planted in 1997 and 2008 on a 'precipitous, north-facing slope', south of Martinborough. Matured for a year in French oak barriques and puncheons (30 per cent new), it was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Full-coloured, it is a highly fragrant, mouthfilling red with dense, ripe blackcurrant and spice flavours, complex, savoury and finely structured. A very harmonious wine with strong presence and lovely vibrancy, flow and length, it's already delicious, but well worth cellaring" Michael Cooper, Aug 2020

"Varietal, fruity, peppery and engaging bouquet. Blackcurrant and raspberry, some plum, milk chocolate, weathered rock and pepper. On the palate - fresh, young, fruity and immediately enjoyable. Flavours mirror the nose with fine to firm-ish tannins and medium+ acidity. The wood spices and core of fruit along with the peppery spice showcase a balanced and well made wine with a decent length and moderate complexity. Well made and ready to enjoy from today and through 2023" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Jun 2023

A very dark red hue in the glass. A well of inky darkness, I love the violet florals, the fennel seed and the spice, led by pepper and clove, a playful and eager to please cool climate syrah nose! Plush fruit bomb like entry, but quickly remembering itself, turns elegant and suave, showcasing super fine ripe tannins down the middle and through the finish. Certainly fruit soaked and delicious but plenty in the personality stakes too, real depth and poise. Hard to not drink now but cellar with confidence for 10 years.

Ample winter and early spring rains made parts of the vineyard inaccessible for machinery in the early part of the growing season. Conditions changed to extreme dry with a mini drought and well above average temperatures into late October and November. Good even budburst followed by an excellent fruit set, combined with rapid shoot growth promised an excellent crop. Alas, the weather turned again! High and frequent rainfall combined with high temperatures created a nightmare scenario in the vineyard; Everything grew like crazy, and disease pressure was very high! The team worked like mad and made the best of a difficult season. Harvest in the end was two –three weeks ahead of normal. The 2018 Blue Rock Vineyard Syrah was sourced from the steep north facing Highfold block planted in 1997 and for the first time included fruit from the 10-year-old Nelson block.

Majority destemmed with whole berries gently tipped into a 3-ton fermenter, viognier skins tipped on top. One ton of fruit from the Nelson block was fermented 100% whole bunch. Fermentation was spontaneous, gentle twice daily plunging, total maceration 28 days. Following pressing the wine was run off in to barriques and puncheons (30% new) for 12 months maturation before racking and returning to older barriques for another 6 months. Racked and blended September 2019, bottled October 2019. Unfined and unfiltered. No animal products used.