Description
Established in 1896, Te Mata Estate remains family owned, producing internationally recognized wines exclusively from its Hawke’s Bay vineyards. The Estate’s ownership varied frequently until John and Wendy Buck acquired it in 1978. John and Wendy instigated a twenty-year development program, which commenced with the restoration of the original winery building and the replanting of all of the original vineyards, as well as the acquisition of new vineyard sites.
The range of temperature and soil types, allied with the rainfall band between 650-850mm, create conditions to produce high quality wines of a classic range akin to those of coastal, central and northern France. Te Mata wines are similar in weight and balance but with unique lifted floral and fruit aromas.
Te Mata winery has been ranked ‘Top Winery in New Zealand’ evidenced by the consistent quality of the Coleraine and Awatea Cabernet Merlot wines, the Bull Nose Syrah and the Elston Chardonnay.
About this wine: First planted in 1990, the Bullnose vineyard’s old red iron soils produce Te Mata Estates finest syrah. This wine has distinct floral and spice aromas, rich flavours of plum, rasberry and ablackberry with a velvety texture. The wine is named Bullnose after an early Morris Cowley car, which was nicknamed Bullnose due to its distinctive radiator. The bull emblem that appears on the wine label is drawn from the car’s radiator crest.
Separate parcels of fully ripened syrah grapes were hand-harvested from Te Mata Estate’s Bullnose, Hotspur and Isosceles Vineyards between 3 and 17 April 2019.
The individual lots were each destemmed and given a traditional warm-plunged fermentation. The resulting wines underwent extended maceration on skins before pressing and then a secondary malolactic fermentation. The separate wines were then run to a mixture of new and seasoned French oak barriques for 14 months’ maturation. During this time, they were regularly topped and racked, before blending and then bottling in October 2020.
Brilliant amethyst with a deep black core, Bullnose Syrah ’19 glimmers with raspberry, ripe black cherry, and dried strawberry over lush velvet tannins. There are grace notes of black pepper, chocolate, liquorice, lilac, even char and baking spices, with the structure and elegance contributing to undeniable ageing potential. Ripe-fruited. Taut. Silky. Bullnose Syrah ’19 is utter class. A black velvet beauty.
96 points, Sam Kim, Wine Orbit “The wine exhibits a great degree of elegance as well as opulence and gutsy substance. The sweetly fragrant bouquet shows Black Doris plum, violet, cedar and game characters with a touch of pepper spice. It’s weighty and sumptuous on the palate displaying awesome fruit purity and silky mouthfeel, wonderfully framed by loads of polished tannins. A stunning rendition of the variety.”
96 points, Cam Douglas MW “Look at that colour!. Dark purple and pink rim. Rhone like bouquet with spices and meats, dark berries and oak follow. Fantastic bouquet overall. Warm and generous on the palate – flavours of dark berries and spices. Raspberry and barrel spices of vanilla and clove. Frim tannins and high acidity. Excellent wine. Invest if you can. “
95 Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front “Pretty, floral, red and black fruit, a sneaky grid of pepper, dried roses and violet. Medium-bodied, concentrated, a little liquorice and spice, nutty, dense and clenched, very graphite and ‘mineral’ character, beef stock and meaty flavours too, and a long finish packed with silty tannin, coffee bean and violet. Beautiful Syrah here. All just so.”
RRP $98 **Our Special Price $72.99 when you buy 6 or more of this wine**
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