The latest issue of Cuisine magazine, Issue 141, July 2010 reports on the
tastings of N.Z. Syrah and Australian Shiraz.
In some ways, the results are not surprising for most wine enthusiasts,
and indeed the wines which came through in the top places are superb, as can be
expected. Kiwi Syrah is on a high at
present, and the interest in this up-and-coming variety will continue to grow
as plantings come on stream. Cuisine’s
writer John Saker reports: “This
tasting confirms that New Zealand Syrahs at the top level are not exciting –
they’re exhilarating.” We can only
concur.
The top wines, all earning a 5-Star rating were, in order of ranking:
Trinity Hill ‘Homage’ Syrah 2007, Coopers
Creek ‘SV – Chalk Ridge’
Syrah 2008, Villa Maria ‘Cellar Selection’ HB Syrah 2008, Mills Reef ‘Elspeth –
Trust Vineyard’ Syrah 2007 and the Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Syrah
2008. The first two wines have been
highly awarded in other wine judging competitions, while the Villa Maria and
Mills Reef are new releases (and should hit Regional’s shelves soon). We have already noted the quality of the
Trinity Gimblett wine in our report of the 2010 Hot Red Hawke’s Bay wine expo –
click here to view.
As Cuisine’s overseas wine writer Ralph Kyte-Powell says, “Australian reds
have always delivered great value, but never have so many offered so much for
so little”, reflecting on the effects of the economic crisis and oversupply
issues in Australia. The tasting panel noted that “friendlier Shiraz” were becoming
more evident. It all speaks good things
for the wine consumer, but not necessarily the best for many Australian
producers! The top-rate wines, all
5-Star by Cuisine are the Thorn-Clarke ‘Sandpiper’ Shiraz 2008, a bargain at
$16.95 at Regional, Grant Burge ‘Filsell’ Shiraz 2008, one of our all-time favourites. Then Penfolds ‘Hyland’ SA Shiraz 2007, Johnny
Q Shiraz/Viognier 2008, Wolf Blass ‘Presidents’ Shiraz 2006 and Penfolds ‘Bin
28 – Kalimna’ Shiraz 2007.