The 2019 was the fifth year of our ongoing drought, but paradoxically it was not a particularly warm growing season with no really severe heat spikes. The yields were extremely low with good fruit quality. The grapes were able to be harvested at relatively low sugar levels and produced wines with lower than average alcohol levels and excellent balance between fruit, acidity and tannin. 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’’.

This wine is based on our “Block 6” of Syrah, our oldest Syrah vineyard. The vineyard block is contiguous with our Block 5 Cabernet Sauvignon, it is from the same bench of soil — a very finely textured decomposed granite with a fairly high proportion of clay that contributes to good water retention.

Of all the wines that we produce on the estate, this single-vineyard Syrah is our smallest production. It is made from an older block of Syrah which measures just 22 rows of vines. One critic described the wine as “having the texture of crushed violets” and it exerts a fine balance between power and elegance.