A Syrah that’s Beyond Gold

Cy Sinderson

In Olympic sports, occasionally an athlete like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps or Jesse Owens turns up who so dominates their discipline that not only is their gold medal assured – it also somehow feels inadequate. Mere mortals were also able to win one of these, but they didn’t inspire quite the same feelings of shock and awe amongst the spectators as the super athletes did. It’s like there needs to be another special medal that needs to be struck just for those athletes who perform beyond natural expectations…

The Master Award

In the wine world they do have such an award; the drinks business Global Wine Masters has bronze, silver and gold medals to award to deserving wines then, for those rare wines that go way beyond the level of excellent, they have a prestigious ‘Master award’. These Master awards are available from 21 different Global Wine Masters competitions every year with each one focusing on a different wine variety. One of these competitions is the drinks business Global Syrah Masters held recently in London which welcomes wines with at least 50% of Syrah in the blend into competition. For the 2022 Masters, the competition received 114 Syrahs from 15 different countries. These wines are then blind tasted by a judging panel of Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers and senior buyers who taste the best examples of its grape variety, from all around the world. By blind-tasting all preconceived notions of the importance of location are pushed aside, allowing the wines to be judged side by side without any bias or prejudice from the judges.

Mission Huchet Syrah 2019

To win a Master award a Syrah has to be judged; ‘an outstanding example of its type, showing impeccable winemaking. This wine delights for its wonderful texture, perfect balance and broad range of delicious, persistent flavours’. With this in mind, the judges at this year’s Global Syrah Masters had no hesitation in honouring Mission Huchet Syrah 2019 with a Masters award.
This may have surprised the world-renowned judges once they took off their blindfolds but it didn’t really shock the winemakers at Mission Estate back in New Zealand. “We’re both thrilled and humbled to achieve this Masters Award up against so many other incredible Syrahs from around the world. It’s a real credit to the efforts of our winemaking and viticultural teams, it’s not just about this vintage, but also the learnings and knowledge of these vineyards that we have picked up over the years,” says Paul Mooney, Chief Winemaker at Mission Estate.

Mission have been going from strength to strength in the Syrah category in recent years and their Huchet wines have always been the ultimate expression of winemaking at Mission as they are made in honour of Brother Cyprian Huchet. Brother Cyprian was the pioneering winemaker of the late 19th century who won New Zealand’s first ever international wine medal at the Paris exhibition in 1882 for a wine proudly grown and crafted at Mission – so it was somehow fitting that a wine made in his name received such an international accolade.

Mission Huchet Syrahs are only made in the finest years and 2019 was an exceptional year for Syrah sourced from the organically certified, low yielding vines from the Gimblett Gravels region in Hawke’s Bay. The Master award-winning Huchet Syrah 2019 is a wine of complexity, structure and intensity that shows rich black fruits of plum and raspberry with soft spices, subtle cedar and sandalwood with hints of vanilla. The 2019 vintage will age gracefully for up to 20 years although you won’t have anywhere near that amount of time to get a bottle for yourself!

With this sort of quality at the top end, Mission has put its talented winemaking skills to work on its other Syrahs as well to achieve a remarkable selection. Packing a punch in terms of quality and endorsement– and also sourced from the Gimblett Gravels, are two other highly notable wines. The 2020 Jewelstone Syrah was given five star reviews from recognised wine writers Michael Cooper, Sam Kim of Wine Orbit and Yvonne Lorkin and 94 points from Andrew Caillard MW. The 2020 Reserve Syrah – a stunner that’s great for drinking now, or putting in your cellar – has received GOLD medals from the New Zealand International Wine Show and Hawkes Bay A&P Wine Awards as well as five star ratings from Michael Cooper and Sam Kim.

Winning a prestigious award like the Master from a globally renowned competition like the Global Syrah Masters doesn’t happen every day, so everyone will want to know what wine beyond gold medal level is really like. Like seeing legendary Olympic athletes in action, it’s the kind of experience you’ll remember for years and years to come! So grab Syrah for your cellar as well as Syrah to drink now – all available at missionestate.co.nz.