Bay syrah gains sommelier praise

A leading wine and spirits director for a chain of hotels across Britain has described Hawke's Bay-produced syrah as "a new world classic in its own category".

Ronan Sayburn, a master sommelier with the luxury Hotel du Vin Group, was one of four renowned experts who visited a string of the region's wineries last week as well as experiencing a regional tasting presentation put on by Hawke's Bay Winegrowers.

Along with Australian sommeliers Andrew Phillpot, Patrick White and Matt Swieboda, Mr Sayburn toasted the region's syrah, calling it "fantastic" and "very well made".

He compared it to the top Rhone producers, but said it now stood alone in its own unique and quality class.

The group also acknowledged the strength of local chardonnays, with Mr Sayburn applauding what he called a move away from "buttery oak" varieties of a decade ago to a fresher style with more citrus minerality.

"We don't hear about or get shown Hawke's Bay chardonnays by distributors, and that's a surprise as the quality is here, and now we want to see more," said Mr White, from Otto Ristorante in Sydney.

It was his and his two Australian colleagues' first visit to Hawke's Bay. All expressed surprise and delight with what they came across.

All agreed that their respective wine consumers were looking for a wider offering of wines from New Zealand, beyond Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and felt Hawke's Bay chardonnays and syrahs in particular offered a strong point of difference for the region.

Mr Sayburn said he would be writing about his local discoveries on his blog site and predicted more Hawke's Bay wines would begin to be seen on "serious" fine wine lists.

Hawke's Bay Winegrowers executive officer Lyn Bevin said the arrival of international wine writers and trade representatives into the Bay was now a regular occurrence.

"They ensure they get to see the key winemaking regions - and for us it is getting better every day."

Steven Spurrier, chairman of the Decanter World Wine Awards, wrote: "This part of the North Island can turn its hand to anything."

Australian wine writer Tyson Stelzer described Hawke's Bay syrahs as having "the textural structure of dreams".