The Wines

Our Labels

The Hay Paddock Label

 

Production of our flagship wine is limited each year to a hand picked selection of rows and vines from throughout the vineyard. The wine is made available first to members of The Hay Paddock Syrah Society in an En Primeur release ahead of the market, then to selected top restaurants and fine wine dealers and collectors worldwide in both 750ml and Magnums (1500ml). The best performng vines from a selection of clones throughout the vineyard are chosen for seperate batch fermentation. Low yield, optimum colour and tannin expression are the initial selection criteria. After six months in new French oak, blending trials are undertaken with a small proportion of Petit Verdot. After fining with egg whites the wine is returned to new oak for a further period of six to eight months before being cold stabilised and bottled under cork. The bottled wine is then cellared for a further two years prior to release.
This wine is produced for collectors and enthusiasts who appreciate the value of cellaring and who join the proprietors in their exploration of a defining wine style for New Zealand Syrah in the manner of Hermitage.


NOTE: It is not the intention of the winemaker to make a comparative rating of vintages. The winemaking each year will be a reflection of the fruit from that season and the ferment, blending and maturing will respond accordingly. If the fruit is not good enough, despite all efforts, no wine will be made under this label.

 

 

The Harvest Man Label

 

The Hay Paddock Harvest Man Syrah is the single-vineyard, hand-made wine which we believe demonstrates the best of New Zealand’s - and ’s - abillity to produce a red wine style that expresses optimum ripeness and varietal character with the distinctive minerality and spice that is a feature of our unique soils. It is a wine designed to complement food and, apart from private trade clients, is currently available through leading restaurants and fine wine specialists throughout New Zealand and overseas. Annual production is presently limited to 2000 cases.
The same intensity of hand labour is applied to the vines which provide the cuvee for Harvest Man as for the limited edition of The Hay Paddock and cold maceration pre- and post-fermentation is a feature of the winemaking. The difference lies in Harvest Man’s greater emphasis on fruit character relative to later maturing tannins, and the opportunity provided for earlier drinking. Harvest Man also enjoys 12 months in oak, but is released after one year in bottle under screwcap.



NOTE: This wine is designed to complement food and to be ready for consumption on release from the winery. However, it is a characteristic of Syrah that it will continue to improve with bottle age and the tannin, acid and alcohol levels are calculated to permit that process. Phenolic ripeness will provide variability between vintages..