2024 vintage

96 POINTS
”Striking hues of purple and dark red with a ruby and pink rim lead to a bouquet of purity and ripeness, perfumed scents of violets and ripe red berries with blackcurrant and dark raspberry flesh then a layer of quietly spoken barrel spice and earthy qualities of silty light clay ideas. A dry, taut and poised wine touches the palate first, releasing slowly flavours of fleshy salivating red berry fruits, spice and blackcurrant to reflect and mirror the bouquet. Tannins deliver a firm youthful tension enhanced by the backbone of acidity and saline ideas on the finish. A flick of violet completes the tasting. A delicious wine with best drinking from late 2027 through 2035+.” APR 22
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Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier

“Deep purple in colour, this wine seduces   with juicy mouthwatering fruit forward aromas - ripe Omega plums and blackberry - with complex savoury spice that comes through in layers of subtle cinnamon, black pepper and gentle cedar notes; all interwoven into the fleshy ripe flavours of this wine. Firm tannins underpin the structure of this dry, youthful Syrah with firm palate weight bringing interest to every savoury sip. It’s a beautiful Syrah to enjoy now - especially when decanted for a couple of hours - but will come into its own in three to four years (potentially longer) from now.” APR 2026
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Joelle Thomson

Sustainably certified SWNZ
Vegetarian

"Bottled just one month before my tasting, Clape’s 2023 Cornas opens with a deep, introverted bouquet of cassis, mulberries and licorice mingled with carnal notes. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and structured, it’s built around a firm, somewhat austere palate with a good chassis of youthful tannins that lead to a spicy, lead pencil-inflected finish. Despite its brooding character, it should benefit from time in the cellar."

Wine Advocate 95/100
Review Date: 05/2026

Our Herringbone Syrah has risen quickly through the ranks to be recognised as a one of Hawke’s Bay’s finest.  Our 2024 Syrah took out the top spot at the Hawke’s Bay wine awards winning the Champion Syrah trophy.  The 2025 Syrah has big boots to fill but we’re happy to share that this wine is more than up to the job.

Our 2024 Syrah sold out in record time so get your hands on the 2025 vintage now as we can’t guarantee how long this one will last.

If you are looking for a plush, luscious wine that is silky smooth on the palate then this is the one for you.   

The Project wines unite Mission's sustainability initiatives, showcasing their enduring commitment to environmental management. 

VITICULTURE
The fruit for this wine was sustainably grown on our Gimblett Road vineyard in the Gimblett Gravels appellation of Hawke’s Bay. The low water holding capacity of the soils on the Gravels allowed the fruit to hang through early-season rain and ripen to full maturity. 

WINEMAKING

Machine-harvested and fully destemmed fruit was crushed into stainlesssteel fermenters. Fermentations were managed with daily air rummaging. The wines were tasted daily during long post-ferment macerations and pressed once optimal tannin extraction was achieved. Hard pressings were excluded. After malolactic fermentation, the wines were racked into French oak barriques and matured for nine months. 

TASTING NOTES

This wine is rich and generous with silky black berryfruits, spices and elevated floral notes with soft, approachable tannins. 

CELLAR POTENTIAL

Enjoy now, or cellar carefully for up to five years.

Aromas of rich Black Doris plum, fresh blackberry and Xmas spices, with a hint of sweet French oak. Powerful yet elegant and precise in the mouth showing perfume, spice and dark ripe fruit. The tannins are ripe and chalky and balance beautifully with the intense fruit and spicy seam that runs through the wine. It is vibrant and youthful with an elegant acid backbone that lends itself to wonderful aging potential.

Our grapes were grown on a hillside vineyard with views over the Tukituki river, and old riverbed vineyards, inland of Has-tings. In 2020, we had a very warm, dry and settled season. A warm summer and a dry Autumn produced some stunning Hawke’s Bay wines. The yields were kept low to maximise colour and intensity and come from MS, 470 and Limmer clones of Syrah that each offer a unique expression.

Most of the fruit was completely destemmed into open top tanks and left to sit for up to seven days until it began to fer-ment. We have included a small portion of whole bunch to offer greater structure and increased floral aromatics. We initially pumped over or plunged gently and then with gusto as it fermented. Primary ferment lasted for around eleven days, then the wine was held on skins for up to a total of 25 days. It was pressed and run to the cellar to be aged in French oak barriques through winter before it went through malolactic fermentation in spring. The wine was then rested until blending on the 3rd June 2022, before bottling unfined.

WINEMAKING NOTES

The grapes for this wine were sourced from the lower terrace of the Askerne vineyard, across different soil profiles from sandy silt through to gravels, giving wonderful complexity to the individual parcels that make up the blend. Each batch was fermented as individual varieties followed by extended post maceration on skins to build richness. After pressing, the wines were settled and racked to oak barriques. Here they completed malolactic fermentation and were matured for 12 months before blending. The final blend was made up of 76% Carménère, 12% Syrah, 11% Mourvèdre and 1% Malbec and with a 40% new oak component, and 40% second fill.

ANALYSIS

pH 3.87 TA 5.7g/L Alc 13.0% TASTING NOTE An intriguing blend with heady aromas of sweet vanillan spice, blackberries, subtle notes of tobacco, cardamom and black pepper. The palate is rich and flavoursome, with layers of dark berry fruits, and velvety vanillan tones. Fine tannins provide elegant structure, and its juicy concentration gives it a deliciously long finish.

Aromatic and inviting, this flavourful Shiraz shows ripe black fruit, cassis and lovely spice on the palate. In a great drinking window with a nice balance betweeen some primary fruit, secondary aging charecteristics & plenty of Tertiary character. Very smooth Tannin's.

Technical Info:

Soil type - Hutton, decomposed granite

Age of vines - Planted 2000 & 2001

Plant density - 2300–3200 vines per hectare

Trellising - VSP & Guyot

Pruning - 2-bud spurs every 12cm & Cane pruning

Yield - Approximately 12 t/ha

Vintage - A cool start to the season, but warmed up during the peak harvesting period. Very little rain during harvest, resulting in good, healthy fruit.

Yeasts - Natural occurring yeasts

Fermentation temp- 27 °C

Method- De-stalked, crushed, pumped into stainless steel tanks, pumped over for 6 days, left for 2 days before pressing, racked to barrel for malolactic fermentation.
Wood Maturation 18 months in barrel, 35% new French and the balance in older barrels

A cold climate Syrah, Estate grown on Moutere clay soils. Spicy, deeply coloured and richly flavoured wine with notes of pepper.

#N/A

Hand harvested Syrah from the famed Two Terraces vineyard. 100% whole bunch fermented with 128 days on skins. The wine was pressed to a single seasoned French oak barrel for 9 months. Aromas of dark berry fruits, wild thyme and violets and an elegant tannin structure

Commercial Description

We are lucky at Čuvar to have arguably one of the best red wine vineyards on the Gimblett Gravels, which meant that the Syrah weathered the early cyclone and continued to ripen to produce fruit with depth of flavour and ripe tannins – the perfect palette to create this wine.

Firm, ripe tannins create a backbone enveloped in juicy sun kissed fruit that lengthens on the palate to leave you wanting more.

The 2022 back Block Syrah exhibits plum, pepper, ripe tannins, subtle oak, vibrance and complexity. he Back Block Syrah is always one of Brookfields most popular wines – do enjoy!

This classic wine of the estate and of the appellation is an archetypal expression of the finesse and elegance of the wines of Côte-Rôtie amde with Syrah and a splash of Viognier. 

Dark ruby red in colour. Spices, red berries and delicate oak aromas. Round soft tannins. Aromas of raspberry, blackberry and vanilla. Balance between scarcely perceptible acidity and tannins which add ageing potential and softened by long ageing in oak.