Te Awa Syrah 2006
Style: Red Wine
Closure: Cork
Te Awa Syrah 2006
Camberwell
Burke Road
Camberwell VIC 3124
Australia
Producer: Te Awa
Country: New Zealand
Region: Hawke's Bay
Vintage: 2006
Critic Score: 18/20
Alcohol: 12.5%
Size: 750 ml
Drink by: Now
"These are head turning wines of exceptional balance and class." Andrew Caillard MW
A beautifully fragrant and elegant syrah from the famous Gimblett Gravels of Hawke's Bay. Savoury, subtle, spicy and peppery. For lovers of fine, cool-climate shiraz.
"Very fine nose with white pepper and florals, good depth and intensity, beautifully fragrant. Elegantly sized wine with velvety, fine-grained tannins. The fruit is in the violet and white pepper spectrum, and this has spice notes adding to the interest. Good concentration. There is acid freshness and combined with the supple tannins gives good length." Raymond Chan
Expert reviews
"12.5% alc, 15 months in 20% new French oak. Very dark, blackish hued purple red colour. Very fine nose with white pepper and florals, good depth and intensity, beautifully fragrant. Elegantly sized wine with velvety, fine-grained tannins. The fruit is in the violet and white pepper spectrum, and this has spice notes adding to the interest. Good concentration. There is acid freshness and combined with the supple tannins gives good length." Raymond Chan - 18.0/20 points
"Jenny Polack at Divino Cellars is beside herself after tracking down this little 'beauty' for Bargain Bin from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand. 'I'm really excited about it and there are not that many wines that I get excited about these days,' she says. The wine is Te Awa 2006 syrah. Te Awa represents the new wave of elegant New Zealand cool climate shiraz (a style the Kiwis deliberately differentiate from the bolder Aussie style by calling it syrah) with plenty of spicy, black pepperiness and juicy fruit flavours but with firmness and structure, too." Jeni Port, The Age
"I also liked the 2006 Te Awa Syrah, a robust, peppery wine with juicy berry and a long finish." Laurie Daniel, East Bay Times
About the winery
"Nestled in the heart of the Gimblett Gravels wine growing region in Hawke's Bay, NZ is the home of our Winery, Vineyard, Restaurant and Cellar Door (refer to the map below).
The full Maori name given to the site is Te Awa o Te Atua which means 'River of God', a reference to the mysterious subterranean streams over which the vineyards are situated and from which the wines draw their exquisite, yet subtle characteristics. The quality comes from the free draining soil which consistently produces high quality fruit. Walking the 50 hectare vineyard at Te Awa Winery you will see the vines planted in alluvial soils, typical of the area. Te Awa vineyard soils are the trails of the old Ngaruroro River which meandered through the region until a huge flood changed its course in 1867.
Farther along Gimblett Road the soil is all stone and shingle with little variation. At Te Awa however, the same stone and shingle profile is interspersed with small patches of sand and silt left behind by the swirling river, which provides for ideal grape growing." Te Awa
Te Awa Winery and Hawke's Bay sub-regions
New Zealand
New Zealand is home to more than 700 wineries across 14 wine regions. The regions are Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Central Otago, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Marlborough, Martinborough*, Nelson, Northland, Waikato, Waipara Valley, Wairarapa and Waitaki Valley. * Martinborough is a sub-region of Wairarapa, however, as it is world renowned it is considered here to be a region to avoid confusion.
The wine regions in New Zealand stretch from latitudes 36°S (Northland) in the north (comparable in latitude to Jerez, Spain), to 45°S (Central Otago) in the south (comparable in latitude to Bordeaux, France). New Zealand's climate is maritime, producing cooler summers and milder winters than would be expected at similar latitudes in Europe.
Viticulture in New Zealand dates back to 1836 when British resident James Busby produced wine in the far north, but it wasn't until 1985 that the wine industry came of age when Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc garnered international attention and critical acclaim.
New Zealand is internationally renowned for Sauvignon Blanc (particularly from Marlborough), Pinot Noir (Central Otago, Martinborough and Waipara Valley), Chardonnay, Bordeaux-style blends of mainly Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (Hawkes Bay) and Syrah (Hawkes Bay). Sauvignon Blanc accounts for 63% of the area of the national vineyard, followed by Pinot Noir (14%), Chardonnay (8%), Pinot Gris (7%) and Merlot (3%).