Wine Reviews
The 2023 Le Sol Syrah hails from the Gimblett Gravels in New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay. Aromatically, the wine leads with sweet roasted game, beetroot, pomegranate molasses, cocoa, crushed rocks and notes of peat. The tannins show the typical graphite quality that we have come to expect from this cuvée and this terroir, and one could even go so far as to say that the wine feels incredibly elegant, almost light. The fact that any wine was made in Hawke’s Bay after Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle made landfall on February 11, 2023, can be considered an immense achievement, never more so than when the wines are great, as this is. As always with Le Sol, exercise patience; you will be rewarded. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
This wine here is all about pomegranate and pink peppercorn, ripe raspberry, black tea, crushed sea shells and minerals. It’s a beautiful wine, possibly as light as I’ve ever seen it, and I love it for that. The tannins and acidity balance perfectly to create a featherlight and long finish.
2023 will go down as “the cyclone year” in New Zealand’s North Island. This is a cool climate expression, there’s no denying it, but it’s a solid, harmonious wine nonetheless, delivering aromas of fresh cran-raspberries with bass notes of forrest undergrowth, dried herbs, ground pepper and mint dark chocolate. Mid-weight with a tart finish, crunchy acidity, a graphite core and sappy, somewhat astringent tannins, this should evolve decently well with time in bottle.
Silky and welcoming, the 2022 Le Sol is very moreish, with open-knit textures and approachable fruit flavors of red cherry, plum coulis and cola. Oak lends vanilla and cedar tones to the fruit, but the vintage didn’t allow for much expressiveness. The 2022 is a rather restrained, easier style that will give pleasure early.
A velvety and refined syrah with currants, wild herbs, violets and stones on the nose, following through to a medium body with fine, firm tannins. Peppery and lively with focus and verve. Bright and luscious, with a peppery, lingering finish. Drink or hold. Screw cap.
