Craggy Range Le Sol Syrah 2024

99 POINTS

Ken Gargett - Winepilot

Right from the very beginning of the Craggy Range adventure, this wine has been my favourite of their range. I know others disagree and look to other options (plenty of late-night discussions have failed to resolve this, so I urge you to make up your own mind), but for me, this stands up, year after year after year. That said, I’m not sure if it has ever stood taller than in the wonderful 2024 vintage. This is a brilliant wine and if it is not on your bucket list then it should be. The name reflects the soil. The fruit comes from the stoniest areas of their Gimblett Gravels vineyard, which was planted to what they term a ‘heritage clone’, which came to New Zealand back in the 1840s. Maturation was for a year and a half in a mix of French and Austrian oak, 29% of which was new. An opaque yet vibrant purple/maroon hue with a dark magenta edge. Beautifully refined, this is all class. Imagine if you could take what’s best about New World Shiraz and Old World Syrah and blend them into something even more special. The wine has exquisite balance and aromas of chocolate, mocha, leather, cloves, cassis, animal flesh, truffles, violets, licorice, bergamot and coffee beans. Well focused with great length, we see hints of bacon fat and cocoa powder emerging on the palate. Despite this cornucopia of flavours, the wine is at all times regally elegant and yet the intensity never wavers for a moment. Such length. Finishing with silky tannins, the seductive texture runs throughout, and the wine should drink magnificently over the next fifteen to twenty-five years. A stunning Syrah and time might just get it over the hump to that perfect score, although it does seem a little churlish not to award it now. Wonderful stuff.