Gimblett Road syrah proves its quality

John and Juliette Lockie with their awards in 2009.

On the evening of October 20 there will be glasses raised to a special wine. It will be the wine judged to be the Champion Wine of Show; the best of the Bay; the top drop, as declared by the judges of the 15th Hawke's Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards.

The event is now an established part of the region's world-class wine industry and the nod as the Bay's best wine is eagerly sought by winemakers, viticulturists, winery management - everyone on deck, so to speak. Leading up to the big night, where wines will be tasted and toasted and awards poured out, Hawke's Bay Today will profile the 14 Champion Wine of Show winners. Today we feature Gimblett Road's winning.

Champion Wine of Show for 2009: Balthazar Syrah Gimblett Road 2007

For those who formed the syndicate that produced the Balthazar wines, this award was special - and very certainly a one-off.

Because, as one of those part of the small but determined group, John Lockie explained, by the time they won the big award that year with their 2007 syrah the vines had all gone.

The block of land on the Gimblett Gravels had been sold to Delegats and the plantings were all pulled out.

But the win did illustrate that Balthazar had possessed the right stuff, despite it starting out as a complete unknown quantity.

"We were a bit of an example of how much can go wrong in such bony ground," he said of the first plantings upon the gravels.

"The vines struggled from lack of water so were rumpty little things that struggled to get a start and took about two years longer than they have to produce commercial quantities of grapes."

He said there was huge variability through the block.

"To get them going and try to even them up we used tonnes of mushroom mulch, which was applied to plants on a bay by bay basis targeting the worst."

Mr Lockie said, while it was an expensive exercise, the wines bloomed.

"It proved to me that if you pay enough attention to detail and do the hard work, no matter what the cost, you can achieve great wines."

He said 2007 was a good vintage and that the pick came clean off the vines.

"Our winemaker had a devil of a job getting the 2007 syrah to finish its fermentation - he finally tucked it up in a warm spot near the ceiling to get enough warmth so it could finish."

The A&P awards were the only competition they entered, as there was little point in going for others as the vineyard was being sold and the name of Balthazar was effectively dissolving into memory.

"It was an absolute thrill to pick up the top award."

Mr Lockie shared a bottle of the 2007 syrah with friends a few weeks back and said it was standing the test of time perfectly.

He knows of a few bottles still tucked away in cellars.

John and Juliette Lockie are still in the winemaking business though - running Red Barrel, and their passion for creating fine wines is clear.

Their Red Barrel 2013 Syrah and the 2013 Reserve Syrah both achieved five stars from wine writer Raymond Chan and they are excited at the prospect of what their soon to be released 2014 Chardonnay holds.