Dry River Lovat Syrah 2016
2016
£60.00
Out of stock
To refresh the memory, 2016 was an outstanding vintage, no less for Syrah. After a moderately warm and very dry summer, the long autumn helped with the late slow ripening of our Syrah perfectly. Little rain at the end of the season made picking easy and ensured impeccably healthy grapes came into the winery. A deep purple colour with a tamarillo hew indicates the wine is still in in fancy stage.
The influence of fine, mostly older oak preserves the primary and floral characters like cherries, fresh blackcurrants, violets and Christmas spices. It cries ripe characters of black liquorice, dark boysenberries and crème de cassis. The wine has more to reveal behind the veil of primary fruit characters, toasted almond paste and black olives. The low cropping levels combined with the elevated ripeness of the Syrah clearly contribute to the heavy fruit weight, mainly on the mid-palate. Approachable and fine grained, more powdery tannins are focussed on the centre-mid area of the palate, stretching lengthways to the back like a long rod. Combined with a gentle acidity, the wine still shows firm and compact, hiding the more elegant and delicate fruit characters and leaving it up to time to emerge and unfold.
WINE PRODUCER
Dry River Wine
Dry River was established in 1979 by Dr Neil and Dawn McCallum and was one of Martinborough’s first wineries. Named for one of South Wairarapa’s earliest sheep stations, Dry River rests on the very arid, gravelly, free-draining soils near the Ruamahanga River, an area known as the Martinborough Terrace.
The McCallums’ dream was to produce unique, high-quality wines that age beautifully. It has been our focus ever since.
Who Makes Dry River Wine?
Dry River is run by a dedicated team of six. Chief winemaker Wilco Lam is assisted by Sam Rouse in the winery, while the vineyards are tended by vineyard manager James Pittard, assisted by Michelle Mills and Alex Muir. Sarah Bartlett is Dry River’s business manager, taking care of customers, sales and marketing.
Principles of Their Wine
From the very first vintage, Dry River has followed three key vineyard management principles: no irrigation, careful canopy management, and crop thinning. These three concepts work together to produce grapes of remarkable ripeness and concentration.
If you want to read more about this incredible vineyard, view their website here.
WINE REGION
Martinborough Wine
Although a small region, there’s no doubt about the fact Martinborough packs a punch. Producing some of New Zealand’s most acclaimed wines and garnering a large following. The regions first vines were planted back in 1883. It wasn’t until 1970 that heads started to turn and Martinborough was competing on the world stage.
Martinborough Wine Selection
The region features a diverse selection of wines. But the silt loam and gravelly sub-soils of the Martinborough Terrace ensure pinot noir and sauvignon blanc grapes flourish.
Subregions
The areas three sub-regions; Martinborough, Masterton and Gladstone and have similar grape varieties planted, but the differing terroir of each brings out unique flavours. The Wairarapa makes up 3% of New Zealand’s total production. This number is contributed to the fact vineyard yields in the area below the national average, this alone is a large contributor to the regions success.
Location
While Martinborough is a small colonial village with many of the producers in the area being family owned and run. Only a short drive north of New Zealand’s’ capital city Wellington, the area is well situated as has earned the reputation as the wine hub of the Wairarapa. Gladstone is a little south of Masterton, Wairarapa’s largest town and is one of the fastest growing wine regions in the country. Luckily for us, it has plenty of room to grow!
Climate of the Area
Wairarapa is one of the coolest and driest areas in the north island. With climate and soil conditions similar to that of Burgundy, it’s no surprise that the wines produced in the area are some of New Zealand’s finest.
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