Dry River Lovat Vineyard Syrah 2019

Reviews

Bob Campbell, MW (The Real Review): 96/100. Dense, inky, ... syrah from a very favourable vintage. Cassis, dried fruits, plum, prune, raspberry, black pepper, violet and spicy oak flavours supported by ripe, sweet tannins. Still a little youthful and locked-in but will certainly benefit from careful cellaring. Drinking: now - 2033.

Cameron Douglas MS: 95/100.  A fascinating, complex bouquet and palate with aromas and flavours of roasted dark berries, wood smoke and violets. There’s kitchen baking spices and reflecting the use of oak, but also the sense of place with a silty and stony mineral clay flavours. Harmonious on the palate, youthful as well with a fine back bone of acidity masked by the core of fruit and sweetness of French oak. A delicious wine ready to drink from 2021 through 2030+. Will age well if stored well.

VINOUS - Rebecca Gibb MW: 95/100. The dry, warm conditions of 2019 have given fully ripe fruit that provides a clam, mouthfilling style. The aromas are layered and wild, with dark cherry fruit alongside agave and white pepper lightly sprinkled on celery. There's a timid smoky element and a subtle cedar spice as a background note. The gently grippy tannins have a rather sandy texture on the fresh finish. Overall, this is a characterful and intriguing Syrah from Dry River. I look forward to seeing what the future brings. Drinking window: 2023-2033.

Winemaker's Note

To me, this wine has seduction and indulgence written all over it. The wine is eager to please and wants to show its magic, and I agree. Roasted coffee beans, mocha and cacao nibs show the deeper, ripe and more mature sides. The boysenberries, brambles and violets bring prettiness back into the wine.

The 18 months in barrel helped to show further complexity in the wine through black olive tapenade, bacon fat and a touch of cedar. The oak is noticeable as a furry cloak. The entrance of the palate is seamless, and the wine can be embraced with arms wide open, so to speak. Despite the effortless entry it is still a youthful wine with ample ‘lively’ tannins that subside into the fruit and vibrant acidity. Iodine, smoke and again the bacon fat character, together with the fruit of the forest, make up for the indulgence and stamina.

Aromas and flavours:

Additional information

Type: red wine

Varietal: Syrah

Alcohol: 13% vol

Residual sugar: <2 g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Food match: Match with BBQ beef and venison.

Notice: contains sulfite

Vineyard: 'Lovat', Martinborough, New Zealand. First plantings 1992. 1.7 ha Syrah.

Vintage: Dry River calls it "a phenomenal late summer and Autumn". The team picked mid-April with perfect ripeness and in very healthy condition.

Winemaking: The fruit was chilled to 4°C overnight, 100% destemmed the following day for one vat, and crushed whole bunched in an old 300 litre barrel as an experiment with gentle hand plunging to wet the top (skin time 12 days). Winemaker Wilco Lam saw beautiful tannins and left the wine on skins using pump overs only for the main vat. After 21 days on skins it was pressed, settled, and racked to barrel with high lees for 18 months. It was bottled un-fined and unfiltered in March 2021.

Cellaring potential: 2029+

Closure: Cork

Produced and bottled: Dry River Wines Limited, P.O Box 72, Martinborough, South Wairarapa, New Zealand

Distributor: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel, Germany