2015 Elephant Hill Syrah Airavata

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 88 points

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  9/20/2023 - Cromulent Likes this wine: 90 Points

  Had this over dinner at a BYO restaurant so pop and pour. Initally a bit raw and tannic. Developed over an hour and much improved by the time the last glass was consumed. Likely needs another few years to reach its potential.

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  4/30/2022 - Anthony Matson wrote: 88 Points

  A little disappointed tbf. The finish does not meet the price.

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  2/27/2020 - forceberry wrote: 86 Points

  The top-tier Syrah of Elephant Hill. 71% of the fruit is sourced from Gimblett Gravels, 29% from Te Awanga. 82% of the fruit is destemmed, 18% fermented whole-clusters. There's an 1,7% portion of Viognier co-fermented with the Syrah portion. Macerated with the skins for two to threw weeks, aged for 26 months in oak barriques (40% new, 60% used), blended together and left to age for a further 7 months in stainless steel. Bottled without fining and with minimal filtering. 14,2% alcohol, 1 g/l residual sugar, 5,4 g/l acidity.
  
  Deep, very dark and only slightly translucent blackish-red color. Fragrant and seductive but also rather modern nose with aromas of crushed peppercorns, brambly blackberries, some toasty oak spice, a little bit of smoke, light savory woody tones, a hint of ripe raspberry and a touch of mocha. The wine is quite full-bodied, dry and silky on the palate with complex, savory flavors of gamey meat, woody oak spice, ripe blackberry, some earthy tones, a little bit of raw pepper steak, a hint of blood and a touch of toasty mocha oak. The overall feel is moderately high in acidity, but the tannins are very soft, mellow and easy. The finish is dry, somewhat earthy and quite meaty with flavors of earthy spices and crushed peppercorns, some gamey meat, a little bit of ripe blackberry, light plummy tones, a hint of stony minerality and a touch of brambly raspberry.
  
  A quite good and serious New World Syrah made in a style that reminds me quite a bit of modern Hermitage wines with its peppery tones and quite noticeable, glossy oak. Otherwise the wine would be quite good, but it feels just very polished and soft, lacking the depth and thrill of a good Syrah and the stern structure I'd expect from a big and burly style. I don't expect every Syrah made in a Northern Rhône style to be tannic, but this is obviously a wine made in a ripe and more concentrated style, yet in a more-Hermitage-than-Shiraz fashion, and with this soft and mellow tannins it feels like this is like an ambitious yet quite polished pop song with nice treble and solid middle, but lacking the bass frequencies altogether. An impression many oaky, modernist super-Barberas give me often. This is really not a wine that speaks a language I understand. Somewhat of a disappointment to me and feels way overpriced for the style at 84,81€.

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  1/16/2020 - Callum's Corkers Likes this wine: 88 Points

  brief London tasting note...
  
  N....usual suspects but no real intensity
  
  T.....light body but not light on flavour, too much oak at the moment/out of balance but I'd hope that will eventually marry to the otherwise excellent fruit; ends dry.
  
  Rec RP £67.00.....for me not worth that, maybe £40.00.... I liked their 2015 'Stone' Syrah much more

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