Te Mata Estate Bullnose Hawke's Bay Syrah 2018

Description

• Dry style & oaked
• Cinnamon spice
• Black Doris plum
• Velvety chocolate tannins

"Combining exquisite refinement and undeniable power, this latest offering is another stunning beauty under this iconic label. The gorgeously perfumed bouquet shows Black Doris plum, sweet raspberry, violet, olive and toasted almond characters with a whiff of fragrant spice. The palate is concentrated, focused and delightfully flowing with outstanding depth and intensity, while remaining elegant and poised, leading to an extremely long expansive finish. Harmonious, seamless and flawlessly precise. At its best: 2023 to 2035" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Oct 2019

"Deep, bright, youthful purple/red colour, with a pronounced spicy, peppery aroma, the palate sweet rich and deep in very elegant, classy fruit flavour. The tannins are ample and refined, balanced and the wine is overall delicious. Black pepper, subtle cloves and other spices. A glorious wine. It has a core of fruit sweetness that is utterly delicious" Huon Hooke, Nov 2019

Deep magenta with an onyx-dark core, Bullnose ’18 has an immediate rich aroma of cinnamon, lavender, ultra-ripe raspberry and black cherry. Lush with plum and boysenberry, the palate has immense depth and is interwoven with black liquorice, spice and velvety chocolate tannins. A deep delight, replete in detail, the 2018 has a classically beautiful Bullnose purity with power, a sumptuous dark heart, and a long, structured, elegant finish. Bullnose ’18 is closed with a natural cork, allowing continued evolution in bottle for eight years from harvest.

Vineyard partners Michael Morris and Peter Cowley named Bullnose after an early Morris Cowley car, nicknamed Bullnose due to its distinctive radiator. The bull emblem that appears on the label is drawn from the car’s radiator crest. Separate parcels of fully ripened syrah grapes were hand-harvested from Te Mata Estate’s Bullnose, Hotspur and Isosceles Vineyards between 29 March and 17 April 2018.

The individual lots were each destemmed and given a traditional warm-plunged fermentation. The resulting wines underwent extended maceration on skins before pressing and then a secondary malolactic fermentation. The separate wines were then run to a mixture of new and seasoned French oak barriques for 15 months’ maturation. During this time, they were regularly topped and racked, before egg-white fining, blending and then bottling in September 2019.