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Element, Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2020 750ml

ACCOLADES

Named in the Top NZ Wines of 2025 - OUTSTANDING ‘Fantastic bouquet with the signature of soil and place showing first with aromas of stone and dry clay then a fine savoury dried herb voice. Next the fruit impacts of spiced plum skin and dark cherry skin then black currant berry and leaf. A dry wine on the palate, taut and with a firm squeeze of tannins and acidity then fruit - this wine will age for certain, there’s tension and texture from the tannins and acidity and gentle warmth from the abv. Finally, the core of fruit adds a plush mid-palate weight to round out the frame and finish. Best drinking from 2028/29 through 2036+.’

96 POINTS | CAMERON DOUGLAS MS | CAMDOUGLASMS.COM | JULY 2025

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‘By co-fermenting Syrah with a small amount of gruner veltliner, this intense red wine adds extra peppery complexity to its bold Gimblett Gravels signature. Juicy berryfruit wine with a seasoning of spicy oak. Classy wine with good cellaring potential.’

95 POINTS | BOB CAMPBELL MW | JULY 2025

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‘An arresting nose of sandalwood, cedar and patchouli. The palate is sophisticated and refreshing, with cool-climate restraint clearly delineating the crunchy currant and licorice flavours. Lively floral notes sit like perfume above the bony tannins as everything tapers down to the chalky finish. Very nicely balanced, lighter-bodied syrah. Crunchy and fresh despite its age, this will remain elegant throughout its development.’

94 POINTS | STEPHEN WONG MW | FEBRUARY 2025

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‘A beautifully aromatic syrah, showing cloves and Hunan spices. Medium-bodied with fine tannins. Subtle and crunchy in the fresh finish. Delicious now. Screw cap.’

93 POINTS | JAMES SUCKLING | NOVEMBER 2024

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‘The 2020 vintage (****1/2) is a single-vineyard red, co-fermented with Gruner Veltliner (for its 'peppery, fresh skins'), and matured for 15 months in French oak barriques.  Still very youthful, it is a dark, powerful, savoury, firmly structured wine, vividly varietal, with concentrated blackcurrant and spice flavours, woven with fresh acidity, and a more 'cool-climate' feel than most Hawke's Bay syrahs.  A distinctive, energetic wine, likely to be very long-lived, it's well worth cellaring to 2027+.’

4.5 STARS | MICHAEL COOPER MA ONZM | SEPTEMBER 2025

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‘The 2020 Element Vineyard usually contains some Gruner Veltliner skins but this vintage is 100% Syrah due to differences in ripening times between the two varieties. It is wild fermented, with a five-day cold soak and hand plunged. It's all that you would want a cool climate Syrah to be: smoky bacon, fragrant pepper, but with a sense of more sweet, lush fruit on the finish. There's 60% whole bunches, giving a light furriness to the mouthcoating tannins.’ From: All Change: New Zealand Reds (Apr 2023)

92 POINTS | REBECCA GIBB MW | VINOUS | JANUARY 2023

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‘The 2020 Element Vineyard Syrah has a component of co-fermented Grüner Veltliner skins in the ferment—the timing has to work in order for the wine to come together. The wine is made every year, but the addition/inclusion of Grüner depends on the timing of the vintage. The wine includes 60% whole bunches in the ferment, and the wine spends 18 months with 35% new French oak (low toast). This is in possession of the definitive black tannins of the Gravels, which is good because the style of the wine and the Gruner addition/inclusion serves only to add, not disguise. There is black cherry, pomegranate molasses, green peppercorns, bay leaf, fresh grated cinnamon and hung deli meat. It's very smart. The natural acidity through the finish leaves a floral uptick of energy, which I like. It's fresh. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.’

91 POINTS | ERIN LARKIN | WINE ADVOCATE | JUNE 2025