If there is one wine descriptor that explicitly defines Shiraz, it has to be pepper and there's plenty of that in the newly released Mission Jewelstone Syrah 2002. A wine that promises so much with its inky, deep crimson colour, it certainly delivers with its generous flavour on the palate. Rich and mouthfilling with ripe fruit, creamy oak, ripe tannins adding structure and wonderful balance of fruit to oak, I find plums, blueberries, a touch of liquorice, a suggestion of anise and lingering pepper on the savoury finish. Yum. It's a totally delicious wine.

Every time I taste New Zealand Syrah I think how lucky we are to have some incredible wines, wines that are easily as good as the Syrahs from the Northern Rhone but as 1/3rd or 1/4 the price. The Mission Jewelstone Syrah is a mere $34.95.

The grapes for this wine were grown on Mission Estate's Gimblett Gravels vineyard. After fermentation and maceration, the wine underwent 15 months maturation in French oak barriques of which 50% were new. The best barrels were selected to blend for this wine. It carries 13.5% alcohol.

Mission Estate website: www.missionestate.co.nz.

© Sue Courtney
16 May 2004