This is our smallest production wine, from an older block of just 22 rows. When we make up the blend we
concentrate on the texture — one critic described it as “having the texture of crushed violets” — we know that with a few years in the bottle the aromas and flavours unfurl beautifully.

The 2017 vintge was a warm and dry year which resulted in intensely aromatic wines with velvety tannin structure and good ceoncentrationf of fruit. On our Three Pines Syrah we always focus on the texture — the “mouthfeel” — and the fine balance between power and elegance. It is not an “in your face” style: it shows pretty floral notes with slight pepperiness and the palate is smooth and polished with a long elegant finish — what one critic described as “having the texture of crushed violets”.

Details of vinification and oaking:
This is a single-vineyard wine from our highest elevation Syrah vineyard, a small block contiguous to our single-vineyard Cabernet. The grapes for this wine were hand-harvested in late-February. After being cooled overnight to 14 degrees C., they were carefully hand-sorted and crushed into small open fermentation vats and allowed to cold-soak for several days. A small portion was left whole bunch and also uncrushed. Regular, vigorous punchdowns were given every 4-6 hours for the first half of fermentation, then every 6-8 hours thereafter. At dryness, the wine was basket pressed and racked directly to barrel for malo-lactic fermentation and subsequent barrel maturation. A mix of coopers was used, all French oak, all 300 litre, mostly second-fill and about 40% new. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered after 22 months barrel maturation.