Farvie Syrah 2018

wo hand-picked parcels from 21yo vines, berry-sorted, open-fermented with 55% whole bunches, pressed to large-format French oak, matured for 11 months. Elegant, savoury and long, with sour and black cherry fruit. Was there enough extraction? A curious question in the context of reverence of fruit flavours in current practises. Time may answer an emphatic yes.

The colour is an outrageous deep magenta hue, promising the world.  The nose is a little restrained at this stage, but is showing sarsaparilla, mulberry, black pepper, raspberry and tight, lightly spiced French oak.  The palate gives everything the nose promises and more – the tannins working to lengthen and extend the already elegant and focused fruit.  This is super fine, concentrated, long and powerful; the 55% whole-bunch lending an extra layer of spice and texture.  The acidity is perfectly balanced with the exuberance of the fruit, and in combination with the masterful handling of tannins, this wine is weightlessly suspended in perfect tension.  Deeper and darker than the grenache, and impossible to pit above or below.  An astoundingly alluring pair of wines, and an authoritative first release.

Fruit was hand-picked from two parcels of 21yr old syrah vines, hand-sorted and gravity fed to a 1600L French oak vat and two demi-muids.  55% whole bunch, wild ferment.  11 days on skins prior to basket pressing directly to French oak (35% new), 11 months of ageing prior to bottling.