Critic tasting note: "A deep purple hue, this opens with heady, savory herb and pepper aromas, quickly succeeded by deliciously succulent dark berry preserves, florals and a bit of vanillin oak. The palate is almost surprisingly lithe and sculpted, even austere at first pour. The distinctive sandpaper tannins give quite a grip. But those juicy, concentrated berry fruit notes persist." - 94/100, Wine Enthusiast
Le Sol (French: the soil) is born of the renowned Gimblett Gravels viticultural appellation, with its gravelly soils attracting the sun in summer and insulating the vines in winter. The vines are planted in the stoniest parts of the vineyard to a heritage clone of Syrah brought to New Zealand in the 1840s. Intensively hand managed, the grapes reveal a deep dark Syrah with purple hues. Le Sol is always aromatically pure with a luscious yet elegant mid-palate and a distinctive fine tannin finish.
APPEARANCE Deep, dark garnet with a burgundy hue.
AROMA A plethora of notes leap from the glass– ripe red-blue fruit, boysenberry and blueberry are intertwined with the savoury complexity of black pepper and graphite.
PALATE The palate is seamless and perfect to a point; voluptuous fruit greets the palate and fills the mouth. However, the exceptionally fine, graphite tannins come racing through and give the wine rarely seen persistence. Without a doubt, one of our finest releases to date.
GRAPES/BLEND 100% Syrah. PH 3.62 ACID (G/L) 6.1 g/L
VINIFICATION 56% whole bunch, 44% destemmed fermented in French and Austrian barriques and puncheons.
MATURATION 17 months.
VINTAGE NOTES Warm and dry from Christmas onwards. Exceptional.
CELLARING POTENTIAL 10-25 years from vintage.
