Esk Valley Great Dirt Hillside Hawkes Bay Syrah 2019

Description

Floral, Oak, Plum

"Beautifully composed and elegantly perfumed, showing Black Doris plum, spiced cherry, olive and toasted nut characters. It's succulent and supple on the palate with excellent weight and roundness, wonderfully complemented by silky texture and polished tannins. Gorgeously harmonious and elegant with a lengthy spicy finish. From the Heipipi The Terraces vineyard. At its best: 2023 to 2034" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jun 2021

"The distinctive, debut 2019 vintage (4.5*) was grown on the north-facing Heipipi Vineyard, at Bay View. Harvested from 12 year-old vines and matured for 19 months in seasoned French oak puncheons, it is deep ruby, fragrant, savoury and supple, with impressive complexity. Celebrating elegance rather than density, it's already highly approachable" Michael Cooper

This is a complex and intriguing wine. Aromas of rose petal, red berries and grilled meats are compelling. The wine is round and mouthfilling with a red fruited profile, but a firm tannic backbone provides complexity and length. Raised in old large format barrels the wine has little oak flavour, instead showcasing the beauty of its unique site.

At the summit of “The Terraces” vineyard lies a limestone plateau, subdivided into four small plots of Syrah, totalling 1.1 hectares. Gently sloping to the north this is a warm site, but moderated by the sea breeze from the Pacific Ocean which lies 1 kilometre to the east. Once the home of Heipipi Pa, this vineyard offers incredible views of northern Hawkes Bay and with its limestone and shell base produces a unique wine. Planted in 2007, with the Limmer Clone the dry farmed vines are cane pruned and intensively managed to produce wine of exceptional quality.

The fruit was hand picked and fermented as a mix of whole cluster bunches and de-stemmed fruit in a single concrete fermenter. Indigenous yeasts were untilised for fermentation and once complete the wine wine was pressed to large format oak barrels for maturation. The wine was blended in December 2020 and bottled unfiltered in March 2021.