Vintage
Major Grape
ABV
Bottle Size
Producer
Type
SKU
2018
Shiraz/Syrah
13%
75
Esk Valley
Offers
1464
Esk Valley Syrah 2018
New Zealand / Hawkes Bay
Andy’s Tasting Notes
A vibrant, fresh, elegant example of Syrah with no jammy or stewed flavours, just lots of juicy plum and raspberry fruit backed up by spice, cocoa and violets.
97.5% Syrah
1.8% Merlot
0.6% Malbec
0.1% Grenache
Production notes – vineyard: The grapes for this wine were sourced from a selection of Hawkes Bay vineyards, growing in both river gravels and limestone. The soils are free drained with very little water retention, ideal for growing high-quality grapes. Intensive viticultural practises including shoot and bunch thinning allowed us to harvest perfectly ripened grapes from 12 to 25-year-old vines.
Production notes – winemaking: The individual parcels were destemmed on arrival at the winery and transferred to small open-topped concrete fermenters for fermentation. Once active, the ferments were managed by hand with hand plunging employed to gently extract colour and tannin. After a period of post-fermentation maceration the grapes were gently pressed and the wine transferred to French oak barrels for 14 months ageing. Both small 228-litre barriques and 500-litre puncheons were utilised, 15% of which were new.
Price per bottle £16.95 £13.50
Producer Info
Esk Valley is a boutique winery, but it is unique in that many of the techniques used to craft its award-winning wines are dictated by the winery itself. The old concrete vats, the layout of the buildings, and the absence of modern technology mean the winemakers at Esk Valley have had to make wine in a simple, honest, hands-on way.
Situated in the north of New Zealand’s picturesque Hawkes Bay, at Bay View is the Esk Valley Estate winery. The winery sources fruit from Hawkes Bay, including the world-renowned Gimblett Gravels, and Marlborough, as both regions consistently produce grapes of an extremely high quality.
Sustainability begins in the vineyards and continues in every aspect of the winemaking process. The winery has been an active member of Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) since its inception and all grapes processed by Esk Valley are SWNZ accredited. Programs to eliminate waste and manage the business sustainably have resulted in reducing carbon emissions from operations by 35% per bottle in the past ten years and the Esk team are continuing on this journey.
Food matchCasseroles/Stews
Awards & Critic Reviews
Important info
Contact us
Cellar Selected is a trading arm of Halifax Wine Company Ltd
Company Number 09560732, VAT Registration 772 343527
Registered Office – Equitable House, 55 Pellon Lane, Halifax, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, HX1 5SP