Methode Traditionnelle

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Red Wine
 

Te Mania 2010 Nelson Syrah

With the cold weather travelling up the start of the country at the start of the week, what could be better than enjoying a warm, spicy and hearty dish with a nice glass of red in a warm house, especially when the red comes from a place that seems unlikely to have snow. (Although I am informed that the last particularly cold snap two weeks, ago. Brought snow to the Nelson region for the first time since 1973). It might not be therefore surprising that I have chosen the Te Mania 2010 Nelson Syrah as this week's wine to review.

The Te Mania Syrah is a cool climate style and is grown in sheltered inland vineyard sites to bring out the best in the variety. The grapes for this wine were hand-picked once ripe. At the winery they were destemmed, crushed and transferred to small, open top fermenters. The fermenting juice and skins were hand plunged to break up the cap as the wine macerated and fermented. The must was then pressed to separate the skins and transferred to a mix of new and old American oak barrels, where the wine underwent malolactic fermentation during the spring. The wine was aged 1 year before bottling.

I found the resulting dark crimson Te Mania 2010 Nelson Syrah to have aromas of berry, spice and herbs. On the palate, I found this medium bodied wine to have those same dark berry notes supported by exotic spice and fine tannins, leading to a long finish. It is an easy drinking wine that is drinking well now and will go well with spicy meat dishes like pepper steak or carne asada. Alternatively it will go just as well with simple lamb chops or char grilled steak.

Reviewed by Stephen Clark (15/8/2011)
 

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