Seresin Estate

Tasting Notes

Indeed, the best vintage yet for our Beautiful Chaos Syrah. Brooding and inky to the eye, which leads into a lifted bouquet of dark bramble fruits and savoury, earthy notes on the nose. The palate is charming, with luscious, concentrated fruit that is underpinned by powdery, cocoa-like tannins. A true expression of Syrah from our special, cool climate vineyard.

Winemaking

The Syrah was handpicked on April 8th, the last pick of harvest. The fruit was fermented as a batch of two tonne, in a small stainless steel open-top fermenter, with 15% whole bunches. The grapes fermented naturally and were plunged once a day. After spending 21 days on skins, the wine was gently pressed off skins to rest for five months in clay amphorae (50%) and neutral barriques (50%), where it completed malolactic fermentation naturally. Prior to bottling, the wine was racked gently out of amphorae and barriques to blend and clarify naturally, in a stainless steel vessel. It was bottled without any stabilisation, fining, filtration or added sulphur.

Vintage

The season commenced with a stunningly dry winter, ensuring no interruptions to our pruning, enabling an early budburst across the board. Spring is remembered for strong winds, and, although the fine weather remained in general, a few significant rain events kept the soil moisture levels decent and the vine growth fresh. The conditions over the whole vintage period were extremely favourable, textbook Marlborough in fact, with warm days, bright blue sky days and cool nights. All of the varieties thrived at Raupo this vintage, in particular the Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah.

Viticulture

Our clay-rich Raupo Creek vineyard, farmed following organic and biodynamic principles is located in the centre of the Omaka Valley. This vineyard has a gentle north-west facing aspect and enjoys high sunshine hours and minimal rain.