Moutere Hills Single Vineyard Syrah 2016

This is a delightfully well layered wine with black berry and plum base characters that are enhanced with white pepper spice and background chocolate notes, a richly textured wine with silky tannins that are so soft you hardly notice them with white pepper dominating the finish. Winemaking included 10 months in a combination of French and American oak. It is simply delicious and as the producer says "a much better use of a north-facing, sloping, Moutere clay soils than growing Sauvignon Blanc - they replaced Sauvignon Blanc with Syrah and Pinot Noir when they purchased the vineyard.