Man O' War Dreadnought Waiheke Island Syrah 2023

Description

Blueberry, Herbal, Oak

Vintage 2023 didn’t roll in like a gentle sea breeze. It arrived more like a tempest, rain, cloud, pressure, nerves. But Dreadnought has always liked a bit of weather, calm seas never made a great captain, and easy vintages rarely make the most interesting wines. This is a Syrah forged under tension. On the nose, it’s pure Waiheke: black olive, sea spray, cracked pepper and wild herbs, wrapped around dark cherry, mulberry and blood plum. There’s a savoury, almost ferrous edge; wet iron, smoked meat and crushed rock, the kind of thing that makes you stop mid-swirl and lean back in. Dark fruits glide across the palate, held in place by fine, graphite-like tannins and a line of bright maritime acidity that keeps everything taut and alive. There’s less gloss than in sunnier years, but far more precision, nerve and detail. Oak plays a quiet but confident supporting role letting the vineyard and the vintage do the talking. The finish is long and gently smoky with a saline finish, like the last embers of a beach fire as the tide creeps back in. Dreadnought 2023 is not here to charm you on day one, it’s here to earn your respect, a storm season Syrah, built for the long voyage.

The 2023 Dreadnought continues our classical, restrained expression of Syrah, with a focus on preserving site character and varietal purity. Fruit was hand-harvested from our steep hillside vineyards on Waiheke Island’s eastern reaches. Bunches were predominantly de-stemmed, with a portion of whole clusters retained to enhance aromatic lift and texture, alongside select parcels fermented entirely as whole bunches to add further complexity to the final blend. Fermentation took place in open-top vessels, with gentle pump-overs employed to extract fine tannin and structure without overworking the must. Indigenous yeasts guided the fermentation, reflecting our natural approach to red winemaking. After pressing, the wine was transferred to a combination of seasoned and new French oak puncheons, where it completed malolactic fermentation and matured undisturbed for 18 months. Dreadnought was then blended and rested in tank for a further three months prior to bottling.