Gimblett Gravels’ Syrah finding favour

Media Release – for immediate release
Gimblett Gravels, 15th March 2012

2010 Gimblett Gravels’ Syrah finding favour in 2012
Early wine show results confirm outstanding quality of the 2010 Vintage

The 2012 wine show season has only just begun but 2010 vintage Syrah from Gimblett Gravels, Hawke’s Bay, is already striking a chord with the judges.

Trinity Hill is the toast of the Sydney International Wine Competition following their 2010 Gimblett Gravels Syrah outranking two thousand other wines to be Champion Wine of Show.

Closer to home, two other 2010 vintage Syrahs - Esk Valley Winemaker’s Reserve and Villa Maria Reserve - have been awarded gold medals (and are still in the running to win a trophy this weekend) at the Royal Easter Show Wine Awards.

Chairman of the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowers Association (GGWA), Nick Aleksich, expressed optimism that other 2010 Gimblett Gravels Syrahs would receive similar acclaim. “Congratulations to Trinity Hill. To win such a major International accolade is a huge achievement for them, Gimblett Gravels and Hawke’s Bay as a whole. We knew the stellar 2009 vintage would be a tough act to follow but were quietly confident that the 2010 vintage would not be overshadowed. The early results are very encouraging, especially considering so many 2010 Syrahs have yet to be released”

Later this year, GGWA will release their 2010 Annual Vintage Selection. Typically, this comprises twelve red wines (blended reds from Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon and /or Syrah) independently selected to be representative of the vintage, and sent to key media/ wine influencers around the world.

Says Nick, “2008 vintage leant towards Syrah, 2009 towards the Merlot and Cabernet blends. As for 2010, at the moment, it’s just too close to call.”

ENDS

Editors Note
The Gimblett Gravels wine-growing district is home to around 30 vineyards, is just 800 hectares (less than 2000 acres) and stretches along New Zealand’s state highway 50 west of the city of Hastings in the Hawke’s Bay.
Once dismissed as useless land by sheep farmers, in the 1980’s a small group of pioneering wine entrepreneurs recognised the potential of the free-draining gravel soils and warm climate locale for top quality wines.
In just over quarter of a century this tiny district has developed as a world-beater, renowned for its blended reds comprising Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon as well as the sky-rocketing popularity of its intense Syrah wines.

www.gimblettgravels.com

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