Te Mata Estate Bullnose Syrah 2019

Brilliant amethyst with a deep black core, Bullnose Syrah ’19 glimmers with raspberry, ripe black cherry, and dried strawberry over lush velvet tannins. There are grace notes of black pepper, chocolate, liquorice, lilac, even char and baking spices, with the structure and elegance contributing to undeniable ageing potential. Ripe-fruited. Taut. Silky. Bullnose Syrah ’19 is utter class. A black velvet beauty.

From Te Mata Estate vineyards in the Bridge Pa Triangle and Gimblett Gravels.

Separate parcels of fully ripened syrah grapes were hand-harvested from Te Mata Estate’s Bullnose, Hotspur and Isosceles Vineyards between 3 and 17 April 2019.

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 14 months’ maturation. During this time, they were regularly topped and racked, before blending and then bottling in October 2020.