Kusuda Syrah 2021

Hiroyuki Kusuda is the Tokyo-born lawyer who tasted a 1992 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir, trained in Germany and moved to Martinborough in 2001. He is best known for Pinot Noir, but his Syrah is among the most singular in New Zealand. The fruit is sorted berry by berry by a vintage crew of around 50, many of whom fly in from Japan. After fermentation the wine is aged around 21 months in French barriques, with under a third new oak, and bottled with coarse filtration and no fining. Production is tiny, in the low thousands of bottles, and alcohol sits around a restrained 12.5%.

The result is a cool-climate Syrah in the Northern Rhône mould rather than the heavy, fruit-driven New World style. The nose shows black and white pepper, dried meat, raspberry and blueberry, with violet, olive tapenade and spice. The palate is medium-bodied, silky and light-footed, with fine tannins, freshness and agility. James Suckling called the 2022 a benchmark New Zealand Syrah recalling the great Hermitage of the 1980s and 1990s, and other vintages have scored 93 to 96 points.