All I needed was something to attach the back door to the trellis to stop it slamming shut in the nor'wester. The wind was doing my head in, the heat was doing my head in, the bang, bang, bang of the slamming door was doing my head in and if I didn't find something to sort it out there'd be chaos and carnage.
Now where did I put that old bungee cord? Picking my way past fishing rods, teetering towers of pot-plant holders, prehistoric sacks of walnuts and some old weights, I accidentally kicked my little toe on the corner of a box marked "kitchen stuff". When the pain fog waned and I ran out of expletives, I picked up the box hoping it might contain the bungee cord I'd been hunting for or my icecream maker, which had been missing since Y2K.
But instead it contained three bottles of wine. The first was the Church Road Reserve Syrah 2008, the second Craggy Range's Single Vineyard Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2008 and the third was Vidal Estate's Hawke's Bay Syrah 2008 - so there was nothing for it but to open them right then and there to see how they were tasting five years down the track.
The Vidal Estate HB Syrah 2008, $20 () is at its optimum drinking now I think. Classic peppercorn and prune aromatics overlap super-savoury, complex spicy tones, developed black fruit notes and mouth-puckering tannins. I thought it was a bargain when I bought it and I'm certain of that now. Great stuff. The Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Syrah 2008, $32 ( 1/2) has the most delicious, silky texture and a raft of berryfruit and spice flavours. Glossy and gorgeous in the glass, with aromas of cracked pepper, cocoa and elevated, floral tones followed by a fresh, feisty finish, there's easily another few years left in this wine.
But of all three, the one I wanted a second glass of was the Church Road Reserve Syrah 2008, $38 (). Perfumed, savoury and peppery with leather, berryfruit and dark chocolate notes. The tannins were emery-fine and dusty after a few years but that just lifts the wine to another realm. A real classic, and if you have any of this in your collection then you are to be congratulated; well done, you.