2015 Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Syrah Hawkes Bay New Zealand 750 ml

Same Grapes as Flagship 99-Point “Homage”

A Wine Access exclusive!

Fans of Hermitage and Côte-Rotie, allow us to introduce you to the 2015 Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Syrah Hawke’s Bay, which hails from New Zealand’s world-class Gimblett Gravels terroir. The Wine Advocate calls Trinity Hill “one of Hawke’s Bay’s outstanding producers and one of the country's finest proponents of Syrah,” and James Suckling agrees: he called Trinity Hill’s 99-point flagship “Homage” “possibly the greatest expression of Syrah that New Zealand has produced.” The same vineyards that produce “Homage” gave us the 2015 Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels Syrah, which Suckling praised as “concentrated and poised,” with “a raw, fresh power that really impresses.”

This is an early, exclusive taste of a region on a rocketship—this wine is rich in blackberry, peppercorn, and smoked meat, and offers a complexity that echoes Hermitage and Côte-Rotie at a fraction of the price. You will remember that you first heard of Gimblett Gravels here, and when you look back, you’ll be amazed by the price. Just $24.99 per bottle on 6 or more, shipping included on just 4.

For millennia, rocks and sediment were washed down from the mountains by the rivers of Hawke’s Bay. These materials collected in the floodplains and underneath the flowing rivers until 1867, when a massive flood changed the course of the Ngaruroro river. This exposed thousands of years of sediment—including the 2,000 acres known as Gimblett Gravels. For years, the Gravels were believed to have little agricultural value. But in the mid-1980s, the hot and dry site’s potential to grow premium red grapes was realized.

Gimblett Gravels is now ground zero for premium red wine grapes in New Zealand, the first region to be defined not by politics, but by soil type. The vines are forced to dig very deep in the poor soil, and as they compete for nutrients, they produce little vegetation and low yields: just a few pounds per vine. The terroir is also rich in stones, which recall the heat-retaining galets roulés of Châteauneuf du Pape, which warm the vines long after the day’s temperature has peaked.

Trinity Hill turns to the same estate vineyards for their Gimblett Gravels Syrah as for their flagship wine, the 99-point “Homage.” The grapes are hand-harvested and aged for 14 months in new and used oak. Packed with rich black fruit, peppercorn, and spice, this is a dense yet slender Syrah that leaves you marveling at the price. Stock up, and don’t forget that it was Wine Access that first told you about Gimblett Gravels.