Black Hills Syrah 2019

91POINTS

16^¾/20

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaAn update on what is still an excellent bottle of wine. A year down the road the colour remains is impossibly dark, the nose a refined and Rhoney floral affair with plums, blueberries, desert scrub, and meaty, smoky, peppery notes. The palate is all this and more with a touch of smoked meat and spice to further excite, along with bright acidity. Best of all is an impeccable balance that suggests this clone 99 syrah will age effortlessly and only get better through 2030. A reduction in oak, 20% new puncheons for 18 months, and no American wood made for a simple fix and a big time improvement in class. Lamb, anyone?Tasted: 06 November 2022Tasted by: Prices:

$42.00

750ml

winery online/direct, select private retailers

Producer: Black Hills Estate WineryDistributors: Andrew Peller Import Agency
Grape: Shiraz/SyrahCSPC: 768291UPC: 058976502912

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91POINTS

16^¾/20

Black Hills Syrah 2019

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaWinemaker Ross Wise made the 2019 label, and it is singing. The colour is impossibly dark, the nose clean and bright but refined and Rhoney with its plummy sagebrush, desert scrub, and floral notes on a smoky, peppery backdrop. The palate is all this and more, with a touch of smoked meat and spice to further excite, along with bright acidity. Best of all is an impeccable balance that suggests it will age effortlessly and only get better through 2030. A reduction in oak, 20% new puncheons for 18 months and no American wood made for a simple fix and a big-time improvement in class. Lamb, anyone?Tasted: 16 August 2021Tasted by: Prices:

$42.00

750ml

winery online/direct, select private retailers

Producer: Black Hills Estate WineryDistributors: Andrew Peller Import Agency
Grape: Shiraz/SyrahCSPC: 768291UPC: 058976502912

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91POINTS

16^¾/20

Black Hills Syrah 2019

Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, CanadaBlack Hills Syrah 2019 has a lovely rich mulberry colour, with glints of deep purple. The very appealing youthful nose combines plum and cherry with the sweet scent of violet, orange oil, dusty herbs, and earth. Even better are the array of classic syrah varietal aromas that follow: cracked black pepper, wood smoke, and cured meat. Balanced and trim, vivid acidity infuses red and purple berries with energy and savoury verve, and modest tannins emerge to caress the mouth. A lacquer of French oak spice is evident but sitting pretty in the wine. Fermented wildly with 20% whole bunches, this syrah rested in lightly toasted French oak for 18 months, just 20% new puncheons. Gone is the American oak used in the past. Fruit for this edition comes from the Black Sage Bench including a few plots of powerfully expressive clones 99 and 100, planted in 1994. Though in its infancy, there is a poise and completeness already present in this serious red. While dense with fruit there is no excess here, just pure, authentic syrah with a seductively silky texture. This wine embodies winemaker Ross Wise’s signature of purity, mouthfeel, restraint, and fastidious attention to detail. Newly released, you must let it breathe in a decanter or big wine glass and try it with a spice-rubbed pork tenderloin or herby lamb shoulder.Tasted: 25 August 2021Tasted by: Prices:

$42.00

750ml

winery online/direct, select private retailers

Producer: Black Hills Estate WineryDistributors: Andrew Peller Import Agency
Grape: Shiraz/SyrahCSPC: 768291UPC: 058976502912

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