Pooley Syrah 2023

A powerful, intense expression of Syrah, certainly in keeping with the Pooley style. Intense in every sense. Red and black fruits, sweet and tangy, Middle Eastern spice, apricots, fresh compost and baking spices. Explosive palate, round and curvy, cut by blistering acidity and glossy tannins. Great sideways width and volume. Is there a touch of Viognier? Still elemental at this stage and would benefit from a few years in the cellar. Waters Wine Co

The inaugural release of this wine coming from the Cooinda Vale vineyard and also some sourced from close by in the Coal River Valley The fruit was handpicked. 100% destemmed. 20 days on skins inoculated with XR yeast. Matured for 11 months in French oak puncheons (500 litres) of which 30% was new. Cooperages of barrel were Francois Freres and Vallaurine.

The 2023 growing season started with budburst in September and continued with flowering in November. This year, we experienced a lot of wind and rain during flowering which makes for very challenging conditions. Between October and December 2022, there was 230mm of rainfall at both of our vineyard sites. It resulted in poor fruit set, and an overall reduction in yield for the season (yield 5 t/Ha). Late December saw the rain disappear, leading away from the La Nina weather pattern and towards a drier, warmer El Nino period. It was a mild summer with no extremes of heat, whilst remaining warm. This is great for steady and slow development of flavour, acid, sugar, and tannin. All the elements that make for great quality wine. Made from clones 1127, PT23 and R6WV28 and finishes with A pH of 3.6 and TA 6.04 g/L and 14.0% alc. Distributor’s Notes

Fragrant aromas of red currant, blackberry and white pepper forms the foundation of this wine. The palate is abundant with notes of red cherry, raspberry and cinnamon bark before softening into impressions of confectionary raspberry and smoked charcuterie. Anna Pooley, winemaker.