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Bendigo Syrah 2006Reviews: |
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This has very good intensity on the Northern Rhone like nose. White pepper and a touch of game coming through. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, good balance and harmony with touches of earth, mocha and white pepper on the finish. Fine. Drink now-2012. Tasted January 2008.
A beautiful cool-climate expression of Syrah. It has a really lovely white pepper and spice definition to the raspberry and dark cherry fruit, with an almost Burgundian elegance and freshness. There’s lovely purity to the fruit here, which is ripe and dark with great natural acidity. Real elegance here: it seems nicely poised between the new and old worlds in style. Not a big, dense, showy sort of wine, but utterly compelling – it reminds me of the best of the Gimblett Gravel Syrahs in style. Bendigo is a warm subdistrict of Central Otago, which explains why they’ve been able to make this wine from somewhere you wouldn’t expect to excel with Syrah. 92/100 - Jamie Goode - wineanorak.com
***** ( 5 Stars)
Wine of the Week.
It has a fine, dark, enticing core which gives way at the rim to a dark, pink-purple rim. The nose is also appealing, with aromas of white pepper and plums, and blackberries just on the edge of ripeness, so that they retain their refreshing tang. But this is not a wine characterised by simple fruit, as there are little nuances of roasted meat and a smoky-flinty-mineral note alongside these characteristics which suggest that this will be a wine I drink with pleasure. And this is true; the palate has a lovely style, not at all short on texture or weight, and is in fact a little creamy, but it is cut through with a cool and incisive acidity which runs right through the midpalate and lingers on the finish. There is plenty of dark fruit flavour, plenty of spice and pepper, and overall it is delicious...and maybe it would do well in the cellar too? There is lots here for The Aurora Vineyard and New Zealand to sing about, a country that clearly isn't all Sauvignon Blanc...or Pinot Noir...or Cabernet Sauvignon - Chris kissack - thewinedoctor.com Central Otago for Pinot, yes, but Syrah? Aurora Vineyards claims to have the only one in the region and it's rather good. It's a bit shy at first, but with time in the glass, it fleshes out to reveal sweet, smoky plum and berry, and pepper and spice characters on the finish.
Syrah from Central Otago, hotbed of Pinot Noir and cool-climate white varieties, is something of a rarity. Aurora's vineyards in Bendigo are in one of the warmest micro-climates, and their Syrah is planted on their hottest terrace to maximise ripening potential. This has a really fantastic nose, where a subtle herbaceousness marries beautifully to fat, smoky bacon character, with lush berry fruits and hints of spicy white pepper. On the palate this is poised, lush, full-fruited but racy, with a lovely peppery edge to the fruit, that's all berries and crisp raspberry, with fine, supple tannins adding some grip and clean acidity sharpening the finish. The quality French oak adds a refined cedar and spice, in a terrific Syrah which vies with the best I've tasted from even recognised New Zealand Syrah hot spots like the North Island's Hawkes Bay. - Tom Cannavan - Wine-pages.com
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