Moana Park Reserve Syrah 2009
Deep rubied, the wine is with a medium rim. The nose layered with dry, purple flowers. It is firm and intensely concentrated with aromas of ripe black berried fruits infused with spices, black pepper, with earthy, nutty and minerally nuances. On the palate, it is full-bodied, intensely concentrated flavours of ripe blackberry and spicy, and black plum fruit melded with black pepper, minerals, earth and oak. The extraction is well-proportioned, supporting the rich fruit, and forms a strong core that carries to a very long, elegant finish through the lifted acidity. Only 368 dozen made.
Moana Park Reserve Syrah 2009 aged 14 months in new and seasoned French oak, but it is by now not oaky. The Syrah fruit from the famous Gimblett Road vineyard, hand-picked, destemmed and given a cold soak, with partial indigenous yeast fermentation to 13.5% Alc. Moana Park web states that this unique terroir allows extended ripening and enhances the fruit characteristics of the berries, producing generous flavour, balanced acids and consistent physiological ripeness. This Gimblett Road site has Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier, Chardonnay and Malbec planted. This vineyard gives a high-quality fruit to play within the winery – in the past, this vineyard utilised by Kingsley Estate where eight of the nine wines produced from this site won gold medals or 5-star equivalent. Since then Moana Park has achieved accolades of our own for our Single Vineyard Reserve wines that hark from this site.
The sub-region surrounding & encompassing Gimblett Road is a different categorisation from the “cool climate” definition used for the broader New Zealand wine industry. The Roy’s Hill blocks the prevailing winds and cloud formation, as well as heat retention and reflection from the stony soils during the warm days over summer, hence the style. Current vintage at NZ$ 45@; this matured bottle may fetch higher prices.
