New Zealand, day 6: Syrah Symposium
A bit of a change. After visiting beautiful vineyards, I've been stuck in a room all day.
But productively. It has been the Syrah Symposium here in Hawkes Bay. A mixture of science, tasting and opinion. A tight schedule, running from 8 am until 6 pm, with four excellent tasting sessions blended in with the talks.
The first, led by the excellent Rod Easthope (Craggy Range) looked at New Zealand Syrah. The second, led by Dan Buckle of Mount Langhi Ghiran focused on cool-climate Australian Shiraz. The third, presented by Jason Yapp, featured six brilliantly chosen wines from the Northern Rhone. Finally, Tim Atkin chose ten Shiraz/Syrah wines from around the world (deliberately excluding France and Australia).
After the symposium, many of us went to Steve Smith's pad for a BBQ, with imperials of Le Sol 2005 and Block 14 2004, both of which were suberb, with my preference being the latter. Nice to be able to chat to Brian Croser and Brian Walsh, as well as the Craggy guys.
The details of the Syrah symposium will have to wait for another time. I'm exhausted and we have an early start in the morning.
Labels: hawkes bay, New Zealand, syrah
posted by Jamie @ 10:52 AM
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3 Comments:
This Syrah seminar sounds like it was an interesting event: if you do get time & the inclination to tell us more (even summarily), I'd be ever so grateful. Over the course of the last few months I have really enjoyed a handful of Hawkes Bay Syrahs, which I now prefer to most from the Australians. Hawkes Bay's can be much more Rhone-ish and nuanced, less full-bodied, full-fruited, and full-alcohol'd than the Aussies. I now am as excited about NZ Syrah as I am about NZ Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. ... imagine that!
Enjoy the rest of your trip...
I'd love to hear more about the syrah event as well.
Wondering how the Gramercy Syrah showed?
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