An elegant, fruity wine with a savoury finish. The palate is fleshy but with great structure from the inclusion of whole clusters. On the nose, it is captivating with violets, dark berries and delicate spice. It is delicious served with roasted or slow-cooked game meats, as it has a beautiful earthiness with a generous fruit and subtle thyme character. The tannins are chalky and give great length and power.
Location
Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand
Vineyard
Te Awanga Estate
Varietal
100% Syrah
“Three Crows is a winemaking collaboration between myself and celebrated Hawke’s Bay winemaker, Rod McDonald. We are united in our love of Hawke’s Bay and share the belief that this is a region capable of creating some of the greatest Syrah in the world. The unique climate is closer to the Northern Rhône than Australia, resulting in a wine style that is fine, delicate and structured, rather than big, bold and concentrated.
Our mornings together in Hawke’s Bay always start with a 5am walk up Te Mata Peak, giving us time to enjoy the incredible scenery, whilst sharing our views on wine. Syrah has always dominated our conversations, in particular how we could create something intrinsically different to anything else the region has to offer. Inspired perhaps by the gnarled ageing vines planted over thirty years ago in the Bridge Pa region under the hill we walk.
With Three Crows we have not re-invented the wheel, but instead looked at the project from a very European angle. We selected only the old Syrah Rhône clones – Chave, Grippat, MS and 174. We then followed a winemaking method honed in Crozes-Hermitages in the Northern Rhône, with a cold maceration to extract colour and aroma, before vinifying the grapes with their stems (1/3 whole bunch). Post ferment the wine was racked into a mixture of old and new Burgundy barrels before bottling a year later.
Three Crows is a play on the word Crozes, but also the crows in the vineyard that feast on the berries as they ripen, an indication to us that it is time to pick!
A fruit driven Syrah, Three Crows has an intriguing balance of redcurrant and blackberry fruit, with spice and liquorice nuances adding complexity. The palate is ripe, yet light in the mouth, with firm tannins and fresh acidity, resulting in a wine that is noticeably refreshing and elegant. For the patient drinker it will age well over the next decade.”
Liam Steevenson MW
