2025 Bilancia Syrah
2025 was another classic Hawke’s Bay growing season and harvest; a wonderfully warm, dry settled summer.
2025 Bilancia Syrah was sourced from the Trelinnoe Vineyard at Roys Hill in Hawke’s Bay. 70% from the flat, gravels site and 30% from the upper hillside.
The Syrah fruit from the flats was destemmed, sending just whole berries to open top fermentation vessels, whilst the hillside Syrah was 100% whole bunch ferment. The initial whole bunch Syrah was gently foot trodden and then allowed to soak while waiting for the ferment to begin. The ferments were then hand plunged daily. The aim is to manage the cap but not overwork the extraction. The wines were pressed at dryness and run to tanks to complete malolactic fermentation. This wine has seen no oak aging.
The wine shows lifted berry fruits and plums with the underlying, distinctive Hawke’s Bay spice. A great wine for opening on release, the 2025 Syrah is a vibrant, youthful wine and can be enjoyed immediately but it will also continue to develop over the next four to six years. It can be enjoyed slightly chilled.
Stephen Wong
93/100
"Vivid purple. This opens with a perfumed nose of violets, cracked pepper, truffle and blackberry, wrapped in a sweet layer of cedar and cinnamon. The palate is tight, restrained and quite mineral, with notes of graphite, cocoa-like tannins and sleek acidity adding to the sense of linearity and tension. The finish is peppery with a twist of youthful amaro, needing time to come together. It is entirely too young to approach right now but will be delicious after a year or two in bottle and has the balance to develop positively for the mid-term."
24 June 2026
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