Man O' War Dreadnought Waiheke Island Syrah 2019

Description

• French oak
• Blue & black fruit
• Crushed florals
• Robust tannins

If you know Dreadnought then this is a pretty classic edition, gifted in the savoury elements with blue and black fruits, crushed flowers, graphite, a touch of liquorice and an earthy smoky lift. The palate is very classical with medium weight. Some sweet fruit will be evident in its youth but there is a long lean frame underneath. The tannins are influenced by stem inclusion which gives a fresh sappy introduction to the more robust seed and oak tannin. An excellent vintage and a wine to treasure.

Vintage 2019 was exceptional with a perfect fruit set in the Spring followed by a hot settled summer and practically no rain during the harvest months. Our Dreadnought Syrah comes from steep hillside vineyards and is carefully hand harvested before delivery to the winery. Each bin is weighed separately and assigned a fermenter with all blocks kept separate and some divided into different whole bunch treatments.

After a period of gentle pump overs prior to ferment the wild yeasts kick off and fermentation begins. The wines are pumped over or plunged twice a day depending on what stage of fermention they are and then once complete we revert back to gentle pump overs once a day until ready to press, generally after 35 days in vat. The wines are racked once to a blend after 22 months in barrel in preparation for bottling.