2015 TWR Single-Vineyard 5182 Syrah

TWR

New Zealand / Marlborough / TWR

This wine is TWR's ninth release of Syrah and is a blend of four different clones planted on the home vineyard. It exhibits the great fragrance and suppleness. 2015 was an exceptional vintage in Marlborough, characterised by a warmer and drier than average summer, and very even ripening. It resulted in very balanced, fleshy wines with great concentration and fine, ripe, silky tannins. The Syrah was picked two weeks earlier than usual and the harvest was very evenly spaced, with no wet weather pressure.
All fruit for this wine was hand-picked and hand-sorted, then destemmed and berry sorted so as to ensure that only pristine, perfect Syrah berries make it into the fermenters. It was gently transferred to small one-tonne open fermenters, and hand-plunged up to three times daily. It was cold-soaked for 6-7 days, underwent a 6-7 day ferment, and then 5-7 day post-ferment maceration. It was pressed off on taste, and then filled to oak after 24 hours. All in French oak for 12 months, various different coopers, 35% new and the balance in older oak. Bottled unfined, with minimal filtration.
This Syrah exhibits fragrant notes of mulberry, black pepper and violets with some complex savoury notes and hints of coffee and spice. The ripe, supple tannins combine with concentrated flavours of mulberries and omega plums and spice. The palate carries onto more savoury and complex flavours and finishes with a lingering persistence of fruit, fine tannin and well integrated oak.

November, 2017

Nick Stock

jamessuckling.com

96 points

A boldly expressed Syrah with real fruit intensity. A large serve of toasty oak, pepper and spice as well as ferment-derived charcuterie meats, blackberry and dark cherry fruits. The elegant palate has silky smooth tannins and is almost pinot-like in texture. The mocha flavors are assertive but the fruit tannins and depth of pure dark cherry-berry are up to the task. Needs time, try from 2020.

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About TWR

Te Whare Ra (TWR) is a small vineyard and winery located in the Marlborough sub-region of Renwick. The 11Ha vineyard was first planted in 1979 and since 2003 has been owned by winemakers Anna and Jason Flowerday. Yields are kept low, the vineyard is managed with a combination of organic and biodynamic practices and all the fruit is handpicked and hand-sorted.  The wines are made with minimal intervention in a small winery which has been specifically set up for small-batch winemaking.  The aromatic wines have carved out a reputation for TWR as a member of New Zealand’s elite, while the improbably good Syrah and Pinot Noir are opening people’s eyes to Marlborough’s potential for red wines of distinction.
Biodynamic producer, certified organic
http://naturalwine.org.nz/

About

Anna Flowerday hails from McLaren Vale and kicked off her career there amid a thoroughly talented pack of young winemakers in the mid-1990s. She worked for Hardys for seven years all up, culminating in an aromatically formative stint at Leasingham in Clare Valley. It was during her time at Hardys that she met and fell in love with Jason Flowerday, a third-generation viticulturalist from Marlborough. Eventually they struck out together and in 2003 bought Te Whare Ra, home to one of the oldest vineyards in Marlborough, originally planted in 1979. Together they manage the estate with a combination of organic and biodynamic practices and have cemented this region's reputation not only as an impeccable source of aromatic whites but also as a force to be reckoned with for both Pinot Noir and Syrah.