New Zealand syrah takes the stage
Despite the UK’s love affair with Marlborough sauvignon blanc, New Zealand is no one-trick pony. Its pinot noir has for the last decade been claiming its rightful place as the second best place in the world to make pinot noir. And now its syrah looks fair to set the wine world alight.
Waiheke Island
And mostly it’s being called syrah, rather than shiraz. Maybe this is to banter with the neighbours, though some think it’s more do to with the style of syrah/shiraz being made – erring towards elegant, perfumed and linear rather than the big, occasionally bruising, but nonetheless brilliant, behemoths that the world is used to seeing from warmer climate Aussie regions.
David Cox, Director for Europe at New Zealand Winegrowers said “the syrah now being produced has a classic New Zealand cooler climate identity but with a true northern Rhône style. We are one of only a very few new world countries capable of producing this grape with the intense blueberries and ripe, dark plums with gamey flavours but with the fragrant pepper which is so often the trademark of wines such as Côte-Rôtie.”
He added “this combination, together with terrific value for money when compared to some of the French vintages is giving NZ syrah the ‘hot ticket’ tag.”
Given that there are around 32,000 hectares of vineyard in NZ, more than 50% of which are sauvignon blanc, syrah makes a pretty puny contribution with 300 hectares, less than 1% of the vineyard area, and with no great expansion forecast. Maybe that will change after the positive noises on the international stage.
Syrah plantings by region
| Region |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
| Auckland |
43.4 |
44.8 |
45.7 |
46.2 |
| Waikato |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
| Gisborne |
5.3 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
| Hawke’s Bay |
204.4 |
204.4 |
205.4 |
207.8 |
| Wairarapa/Wellington |
7.7 |
7.7 |
7.7 |
7.7 |
| Marlborough |
7.3 |
7.3 |
7.3 |
7.3 |
| Nelson |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
| Waipara |
7.9 |
7.9 |
7.9 |
7.9 |
| Canterbury |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| Otago |
2.2 |
2.2 |
2.2 |
2.2 |
| Total |
291 |
296 |
298 |
300 |
Source: New Zealand Statistical Annual, 2009
NB. 2009 is actual; 2010 to 2012 are forecasts
Hawke's Bay
Hawke’s Bay is clearly the place to be and Waiheke Island, part of the Auckland region, is also showing real promise. Both regions are already well regarded for their cabernet sauvignon and merlots, usually blended in ‘Bordeaux style’ wines.
It might all have been so different, as there was so nearly no syrah in New Zealand at all. Serendipitously, it was Alan Limmer who rescued syrah from oblivion. Early in his viticultural career, in 1984, Limmer (who sold his Hawke’s Bay Stonecroft property in 2010) was both working a vintage at the Te Kauwhata research centre which housed NZ’s remaining syrah vines in its research vine collection, and planting his own vineyard.
He said in that year, the research centre “decided to rip up the vine collection. So, it seemed a logical thing to give [syrah] a chance.” The complete syrah collection was transplanted to Stonecroft.
Cabernet sauvignon had been his original plan, and even that, then, was giving “mediocre results”. So perhaps it was it was not such a weird decision, as Limmer added “syrah was seen as truly left field as it was an ‘Australian’ grape and would not ripen in NZ … but the naivety and enthusiasm of youth knows no bounds.”
Limmer released the first syrah wine in NZ’s modern era in 1989. The rest will be history.
Tasting Notes, Annual Trade Tasting, London, January 2011
Craggy Range, Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2008, Hawke’s Bay, £18.99, Oddbins
Bright red plums, youthful, crunchy tannin in a medium body. Has already entered a smooth spectrum, with seductive proportion, elegance and fruit concentration. Energetic wine. Vg.
Elephant Hill, Syrah 2009, Hawke’s Bay, £14.99, Taurus Wines
Spice and liquorice piquancy. Supple attack, with spicy new oak integrating well. supple with attractively pure focus, and good balance.
Forrest Estate, John Forrest Collection Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2006, Hawkes Bay, £16.99, Adnams
Red berry, almost cherry and raspberry compote. Elegant with medium-full body. Rich fruit concentration, with nicely integrated tannin support. Warm, fresh compost finish. Good.
Man O’War, Dreadnought Syrah 2008, Waiheke Island, £ 26.99, Noel Young Wines
Smoke and tar nose, strong and concentrated. Firm line of savoury graphite in the core, with complexity of tar and roses developing.
Passage Rock, Reserve Syrah 2008, Waiheke Island, £29.99, Taurus Wines
Tar and liquorice nose, sweet toast and dark plum and bramble fruit. Oak integrating nicely in this concentrated and elegantly proportioned wine of good balance. Good.
Te Mata Estate, Bullnose Syrah 2009, Hawke’s Bay, £22.15, New Zealand House of Wine
Aromatic, smoke and tar nose, supple backbone, amply framed, with soft plums an damsons in a silky texture. Elegantly proportioned and deceptively gentle with long finish. Good.
Trinity Hill, Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2008, Hawke’s Bay, £14.95, Wine Society
Dark floral perfume. Smooth attack of supple, soft-berried fruit with a sweet density. Nicely balanced and gently proportioned in a medium weighted body. Revels in a juicy gentleness with depth of fruit rather than big complexity, which makes it ever so easy to appreciate. Everything is nicely in the right place.
Trinity Hill, Homage Syrah 2007, Hawke’s Bay, £70.00, New Zealand House of Wine
Red plum and cherry fruit perfume. Smooth and textured with a rich and dense concentration. Dark plums and black cherries on the palate, with freshness and sweet density. Understated. Vg.
Comments
One Response to “New Zealand syrah takes the stage”
April 26, 2011 at 4:32 pm
Sally
I’ve been very impressed with many of the reds from New Zealand that I’ve had recently and it was perhaps this Syrah Viognier from Villa Maria that got me started:
http://cambridgewineblogger.blogspot.com/2009/09/villa-maria-syrah-viognier-hawkes-bay.html
Cheers, Tom