Stone Paddock Syrah 2009

Wine Notes
An initial aroma of white pepper and savoury notes opens up with sweet boysenberry, red cherry and five-spice powder along with floral notes of violet and rose petal. The palate is velvety soft with ripe fleshy fruit flavours of red plum and wild berries, a mineral elegance and smoky oak notes. This Syrah is finely structured and savoury with a long, spicy plum finish.

Food match
A bright, firm and food-friendly wine, the 2009 Syrah is great matched with barbequed red meats, pork, or mushroom and eggplant dishes.

Viticulture
Several clones of Syrah are grown at the Paritua vineyard in Hawkes Bay. Soils are stony river gravels with a silt loam cover. The loam top layer varies in depth from 50cm deep to being completely absent. This soil variation also causes some variation in flavour profile, with the silt producing more pepper notes and the stones a riper floral spectrum. Fruit thinning is essential and the canopy is fastidiously managed to allow good sunlight and aeration.

Cellaring Potential
This wine will benefit from cellaring till 2015.

Winemaking
Whole bunch fruit was de-stemmed and partially crushed to tank. Fermentation was preceded by a period of cold soaking. Fermentation temperatures reached 30°C and daily cap management varied from two to four pump overs a day. The wine is pressed on taste and transferred to barrel for malolactic conversion. Barrel maturation is in French oak barriques (20% new) for 10 months. Prior to bottling, the Syrah had a light fining and filtration.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION