Vineyard Sites - Cornerstone Vineyard lies at the heart of the renowned Gimblett Gravels viticultural region, strategically positioned at the junction of Gimblett Road and State Highway 50 in Hawke’s Bay. This area is celebrated as New Zealand’s premier Bordeaux red grape-growing region, and it’s easy to see why. The vineyard’s unique terroir, composed of riverbed stones and gravels, challenges the vines, leading them to produce a limited yield of small, intensely coloured, and flavourful berries. The resulting grapes give rise to wines with rich, mouth-filling tannins and a depth of character that speaks to the harsh yet rewarding growing conditions. 

Vinification - The grapes were carefully handpicked and fermented in small, open vats. Traditional hand-plunging techniques were used to gently extract the rich flavours and colour. After fermentation, the wine underwent varying degrees of post-ferment skin contact to enhance complexity before being pressed off. The wine then proceeded to malolactic fermentation and was aged in French oak barriques, with 30% of the barrels being new, adding subtle layers of oak influence and refinement. 

Tasting Notes - Boasting an inky, deep ruby hue, this wine offers aromas of stewed red fruits, hints of raspberry jam, black cherry, black plum, and violets. Subtle light cedar and toast are so well knitted you almost miss them. On the palate, flavours of cooked red plum and hints of tobacco emerge.  The finish is long, with fruit carrying right through. An outstanding wine, perfect to drink now or age.

A lovely, deep and dark violet colour in the glass, this wine opens with mineral and smoke accented dark berries, liquorice and spicy black pepper on the deeply perfumed nose. The palate flows energetically with juicy cherry and blackcurrant flavours and more of the smoky minerality found on the nose which adds lift and depth. The finish is long with floral and tapenade pinned together with well defined ripe tannins.

Maturation - 16 months in oak barrels used for several earlier vintages

This is first Syrah from the Easthope home block where Rod and Emma Easthope live. It's a super tasty Syrah with flavours of roasted fresh espresso, floral notes and aniseed. It was made using 100% whole bunch fermentation and aged in puncheons, 20% new with 12 months on lees.

The grapes in this wine were grown on an inland elevated vineyard which is planted in a clone of Syrah known as the Bayley’s clone, selected from the Bayley’s Vineyard in Victoria and brought into New Zealand by Riversun in Gisborne.  

Grenache noir (37%), Syrah (29 %), Mourvèdre (27 %), Cinsault (7%) from vines with an average age of 40 years. The nose shows cassis, black tea and dried flower elements that lead to a complex, fruit driven palate with an impressive tannin structure. Beautifully balanced with great length - this wine will keep for decades.

Le Sol means sunshine or soil, depending on which language you're talking - and either way, it is a lovely evocative description of one of the best Syrahs made in Hawke's Bay every year. This incredibly powerful wine is a beautiful spicy expression of the great Syrah grape from the Northern Rhone Valley. It was aged for 27 months in French oak barriques.

This wine has minor label damage

Dark berry, floral and spice notes, with underlying pepper complexity. A fine tannin framework and natural acidity provide tension, length and excellent cellaring potiental.

Ripe and supple Grenache from Paarl blends seamlessly with the elegant and spicy berry fruit of Franschhoek Syrah.

PRODUCTION Wildeberg’s rationale is to source the finest vineyards available to us across Franschhoek and the Coastal Region, from which cuvées the eyes are plucked to make Wildeberg and the Terroir Series releases. In doing so there remains a small yet definitive expression of all the vineyards we worked with, and its these cuvees that are again selected to go into Coterie by Wildeberg. All fruit is handharvested in February from selected sites in Franschhoek and Paarl. Both cultivars are fermented whole bunch, with some whole berry fruit, there is no crush, just a daily pump over during the natural fermentation. We want to express place over cultivar so this slow, gentle extraction gives wines truer of origin than winery. The components are racked to French and Austrian oak, new and old, for 8 months before the blend is decided. This blend is then allowed to marry for 6 weeks prior to coarse filtration and bottling on the farm.

TASTING NOTE A warm, spicy nose with freshly cracked black pepper, allspice and ripe plum. Good concentration of sappy red berry and dark fruits are balanced by fresh acidity. The varietal characters of each cultivar complement each other well in this subtle and fragrant Coastal Region compote.

FOOD MATCH Grilled meats, especially lamb and spiced meat dishes.

Te Mata Tasting Note

Bright crimson at the edge with a deep purple-black core, Bullnose ’24 is wonderfully expressive and fragrant. Aromas unfold in layers of violet, fresh raspberry, ripe plum and dark cherry, wrapped in black olive with subtle spice and pepper. The palate amplifies the depth of fruit and textural intensity, delivering concentrated richness, framed by a vibrant, precise acid line that imparts energy and a bracingly youthful edge. With underlying power and elegance, fine persistent tannins carry the wine through to a long, beautifully driven finish. Bullnose ’24 is a showstopper. This is a Bullnose for the ages. Enticing, long and beautifully composed.

Outstanding Hawke's Bay Syrah which was first made in the early 1990s from iron rich soils. This makes Bullnose one of the oldest Syrah brands in Hawke's Bay, named after one of the vineyards from which the wine is made (which, in turn, was named after the vineyard owners' love of old cars, particularly the pre 1928 Bullnose). The grapes come from two vineyards, Bullnose and Isosceles, both in the Bridge Pa Triangle; one of the warmer growing areas of Hawke's Bay, thanks to both soil and climate there. 

Aging for 15 months in French oak, which provides its spicy notes and depth.

A beautiful wine for drinking now or for cellaring. 

Hot, dry, long and reliable. And that's just the vintage conditions in Hawke's Bay in 2020. This wine is a beautiful expression of a warm vintage with a long summer. Flavours here include blackberry, spice and liquorice which combine to produce a fruit dominant but complex wine. A small inclusion of the white variety Viognier gives the wine beautiful perfume and allows the wine more accessibility while young.

Soil type

Limestone, clay and silt. Sandy gravel.

Grape variety

100 % Syrah.

Average age of vines

35 years.

Winemaking

Alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel vats at high temperatures. 3 weeks maceration in vats.

Ageing

18 months in oak barrels.

Average yield

40 Hl / hectare. The vines are mainly on steep slopes from the villages of Gervans, Mercurol, Larnage et Crozes-Hermitage.

Appearance : Dark and deep colour.

Nose : Red fruits, cherry and strawberry with delicate oak aromas.

Palate : A structured tannic wine. Aromas of blackcurrant buds and vanilla.

Overall : Remarkable freshness with notable and refined tannins to due long oak ageing.

This is the first fruit from the new Dicey Syrah vines and the results are impressive.

The fruit was all destemmed and fermented with indigenous yeast and received 21 days on the skins with had daily punch downs. The wine spent 10 months in neutral oak and went through natural malolactic fermentation.

The nose is bright and expressive with boysenberry, blackcurrant and elegant violet notes leading to a palate that is supple, lithe and lightly structured. 

Domaine Clusel-Roch is located in Vérenay, the northernmost village in Côte Rôtie, with a winegrowing history that predates the region’s fame. Although the estate comprises a mere 3.5 ha, their plots are small-but-mighty, consistently producing intensely coveted cuvées. Now run by Gilbert Clusel, his wife Brigitte, and their son Guillaume, the Clusel-Roch family was among the first to adopt organic farming practices in the area, when Gilbert’s grandfather planted the core vineyard of the winery in 1935.

Syrah is the star here, and Clusel-Roch’s vineyards are not planted with just any syrah, but with the unique, low-yielding clone known as serine. Their single vineyard bottlings are in great demand (and limited quantity), but this cuvée provides a rare opportunity to get an affordable taste of Clusel-Roch’s inimitable style

This bottle is classic Northern Rhône syrah, with a woody smoke over spice, plush blackberry, black raspberry, currant, and hints of crushed herbs.

Enjoyed at the table of kings in the 16th century, our Saint Joseph is named after the Jesuit monks of Tournon. The reds are made from Syrah and the whites from Marsanne and Rousanne. The combination of these grape varieties and a south/southeast facing steep vineyard with granite soils produces delicate, luscious wines.

Soil Type
Steep sloped vineyards. Gneiss with granite streaks. Lieu-Dit Cadastré « Saint-Joseph ».
Grape Varieties - 100% syrah.
Average age of vines - About 50 years.
Average yields - 40 Hl / hectare.
Winemaking - Temperature controlled alcoholic fermentation up to 33°C.
Ageing - 24 months in new oak.
Tasting - Eye: Deep red.
Nose: Complex with dominant black fruit and delicate oak aromas. A pure and intense nose.
Palate: A powerful attack. Round and elegant tannins.
Overall: A veritable success. Fresh and powerful. Will become more refined with age.