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Konpira Maru

2020

‘Gymkata’

Syrah   |   Victoria - Australia
Shelf Talker Spec Sheet Wine Label Bottle Image

About

If you haven’t seen the 1985 ‘film’ Gymkata, do yourself a favor and don’t. The production quality is rudimentary, the premise is unconvincing, and the setting doesn’t really fit…Parmistan? It sounds a bit like this Syrah from the Konpira Maru duo…though the finished product is significantly better than this wannabe-cult film. The fruit comes from the Quarry Ridge Vineyard, Kilmore, Victoria. This is one of the coldest vineyards in the country and generally offers Syrah a nine-month hangtime to phenolically evolve into something so staggering delicious that really takes cool-climate Syrah to the extreme!

The wine is made with low levels of intervention but very high levels of care. The fruit was handpicked the last week of April and entirely destemmed with the grapes left intact, then cold soaked for two weeks. This is critical for the tannin and color extraction that makes this such a succulent drink. The top portion of the tank receives a bit of hand plunging but the bottom sees a partial-carbonic ferment. Fermentation kicked off naturally and lasted about three weeks with the wine spending an additional week post-ferment on the skins. The lot was pressed back to tank and malolactic fermentation occurred naturally over the winter, finishing in spring. The wine was racked off of its lees and bottled without fining or filtration and only a small dose of sulfur.

Stats

  • Grapes: 100% Syrah
  • Vineyard: Quarry Ridge Vineyard
  • Vine Age: 30-years-old
  • Soil Type: Volcanic granite over grey loam
  • Viticulture: Sustainable
  • Fermentation: Native – 100% whole-berry (primarily hand crushed throughout fermentation)
  • Skin Contact: 4 weeks
  • Aging: 8 months in stainless-steel
  • Alcohol: 10.3%
  • pH: 3.66
  • Total Acidity: 5.6 g/L
  • Total SO2: 46 ppm
  • Total Production: 315 cases

Tasting Note

Translucent ruby. Juicy strawberries and light cream abound in a berry bowl sort of way with just a tough of a ferrous character and soft earthiness. A touch of rhubarb sweetness emerges on the palate with a bit of green peppercorn and loads of refreshing acidity. Absurdly easy to drink a bottle.

Press & Reviews

Wine Enthusiast

90

"This stripped-back, cool-climate Syrah feels like a walk through the Aussie bush on a damp, autumn day. It evokes fresh black-cherry and raspberry fruit, with notes of spicy underbrush, dried flower and wet-stone minerals. It's medium weight, with a gentle but present line of sappy tannins amid the crunchy fruit. At just 10.3% alcohol and under a crown cap, this is a wine for drinking young, fast and ideally slightly chilled."
- Christina Pickard

Vinous

93

"Limpid ruby-red. A highly perfumed, spice-accented bouquet evokes fresh red and blue fruits and candied flowers, along with exotic spice and succulent herb flourishes. In an especially lithe style for the variety, offering juicy, spice-laced black raspberry and cherry liqueur flavors braced by a core of juicy acidity. Fine-grained tannins add shape and subtle grip to a long, silky finish that strongly echoes the red fruit and spice notes. This is a really fascinating expression of Syrah, or Shiraz."

- Josh Raynolds

Producer


Konpira Maru

Region


Victoria

Country


Australia

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