2013 Craggy Range Syrah Le Sol Gimblett Gravels Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (17) Avg Score: 91.8 points

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  8/12/2023 - evanqian wrote: 95 Points

  10 years and 50 years: decanted for half hour, elegant and refined aromas, dark berries, exotic spices, black pepper, dry herbals, violet floral notes. rich and full mouthfeel, m+ body with a fruity core, a little sweet. adequate integrated acidity, smooth and medium grained tannins, espresso edge, long finish with toast oak and dark chocolate. top Syrah in NZ, rich, powerful and elegant. can hold for another 10 years confidently.
  
  13.1% alc. 18 months in French barriques, 32% new
  
  BC 98, WA 94, WE 93, JCL 91, WF 95, JG 94, RC 19.5+, Falstaff 95
  
  Ap 5/5, Ar 14/15, Palate 17/20, Overall 5+4/10
  Total 95+/100

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  8/11/2023 - kfrench150 Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Pnp. Deep plummy purple with a black heart. Mascerated blackberry, slight funk, plums, and a touch of India ink on the nose. Full bodied, black fruits, medium acid, integrated alcohol. Mixed black fruits, ink, cedar and slate on the palate. Dry chalky finish that is mouth coating and quite long. Very smooth and supple. Lovely. Easy 92 points

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  5/14/2023 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 90 Points

  A pleasing, elegant style of Shiraz from very good sites in Hawke's Bay, NZ. I thought this at its best about 4 hours after opening and decanting and for another few hours after that.
  
  There are some nice aromas of jube like dark fruits and some spicy oak, but also some green elements of silage, mulch and slightly damp earth that make me cautious about further cellaring. There is an ashy, minty element that I have seen in other Craggy Range wines and they tend to become more, not less, prominent as the wines age. Tolerance for this will vary, but for me, right now it is an interesting aspect that I would not want to see become more dominant.
  
  I also thought that this wine fell away considerably on the finish - it didn't collapse but there was a noticeable falling away.
  
  Enjoyable with lamb, a quality wine and I have no issue with others being more excited than me. I don't think this wine is the best of its type in NZ Shiraz/Syrah and I don't think it represents good value; an obvious alternative is Te Mata Estate's Bullnose Syrah, also from the Bay and very much better value.

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  4/23/2023 - Cromulent Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Fruit forward. Integrated tannins. Still some upside to come. Revisit in 5 years.

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  11/7/2022 - Marc wrote: 94 Points

  Beautiful luxury syrah from Hawkes Bay. Tasted the evening after the Trinity Hill Homage Syrah 2013, this came across as darker, denser and more plush. It also had more-noticeable elevage, in terms of a higher toast level to the oak. The fruit quality is stunning, and while this wine did not share the explosive black paper nature of the Homage's bouquet, the wine feels more harmonious at this point. Like the Homage, the Le Sol also has a prominent tannic structure, but unlike the Homage, it does not suggest that the wine will always have drying edge on the finish. 94+ points, and this could well improve over time.

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View all 17 Community Tasting Notes

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