Roses are red: the results of the Asia Pinot Noir and Syrah Masters

Cecilia Wong highlights which Pinot Noir and Syrah wines deserve to be given their flowers at the 2024 Masters competition.

Pinot Noir and Syrah are both popular and widely planted red wine grape varieties in both Old World and New World wines.

Both grape varieties offer great-quality wines from both the value-for-money and luxury segments. When you’d like to pick a lighter style of red wine to accompany your meal, Pinot Noir will usually be the first choice. As for Syrah, it’s more full bodied, and you may want to pair it with some richer food, such as steak or duck.

Originating from Burgundy, Pinot Noir is famous for its fragrant aroma, pale colour, elegant mouthfeel, silky tannins, and high acidity. For still wine, when young, it tends to show more lively floral and red-fruit flavours, like purple flower, raspberries, strawberries, and cherries, as well as earthiness. When aged, especially in oak, it tends to show more layers of flavours, such as dried purple flower, dried red fruits, vanilla, toastiness, mushrooms, and leather notes.

It is also one of the major grape varieties in Champagne and many other sparkling wines, where Pinot Noir serves as the muscular backbone providing complexity, red-fruit flavours, structure and ageability.

Syrah (also known as Shiraz) originates from France’s Rhône Valley. It is the most widely planted grape variety in Australia, and is famous for rich, more powerful and sometimes meaty red wines. Its colour leans towards the deeper end of the spectrum, and Syrah wines often exhibit notes of purple flower, blueberries, blackberries, black plums, mint, black pepper and spices.

Styles of Syrah are heavily influenced by the climate of each region it is grown in around the world. In cooler-climate regions like the Northern Rhône, the wines tend towards a more elegant style, with blackberries, mint, and peppery notes. Warmer-climate regions, like Australia’s Barossa Valley, tend to produce wines that are richer in style, with jammier fruits, liquorice, sweet spices, and earthy notes.

Syrah can be found in all major wine-producing countries, including France, Austria, Italy, the US, Chile, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, and many more.

the drinks business Asia Pinot Noir & Syrah Masters 2024 welcomed 25 wine entries to the competition, categorised from single varietals to blends, all oaked, under different price ranges. The competition showcased some unique and fascinating expressions.

Blind tasted by a panel of expert judges, the drinks business Asia Pinot Noir and Syrah Masters 2024 garnered three Master medals, seven Golds, nine Silvers, and six Bronze awards. This year’s panel included Cecilia Wong, co-chair of the drinks business Asia Masters; Juwan Kim, head sommelier at La Petite Maison restaurant, Hong Kong; Vincent Chue, manager of Fireside Restaurant, Hong Kong; and Jonathan Leung, private-account manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd Hong Kong.

Three wines achieved the ultimate accolade, the Master medal, in this year’s competition.

The judges awarded one Master medal to Golden Amrita Sunshine Hill Shiraz 2021 from Australia’s Barossa Valley (price range HK$150-HK$200) made from 100% Shiraz. All four judges found it to be aromatic, balanced, and rich, with great structure. It is deep ruby in colour, with intense aromas of ripe blackberries, ripe plums, sweet cedar wood, vanilla, coconut, toasty, dark chocolate, and spice notes.

“It’s well-integrated, complex, with good acidity, velvety tannins, intense fruit flavours, and a long finish. It’s a great wine to drink,” said Kim.

Powerful and generous

Another Master award went to Wakefield The Pioneer Shiraz 2020, from Clare Valley, Australia (price range HK$1,000-HK$1,200), another 100% Shiraz expression. The judges found it powerful, generous, and rounded, with good ageing potential. The wine is full-bodied, with violet, blackberries, crushed cherries, oak, toasty, vanilla, and dark chocolate notes, with ripe and smooth tannins. Chua said: “It’s a super wine. It’s big, powerful, young, and with great structure. It has good ageing potential.”

The judges awarded the last Master award to Church Road 1 Syrah 2021, from Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand (price range HK$1,000-HK$1,200). They described it as both floral and elegant, with intense fruit flavours, good structure and good acidity. The wine has a deep ruby colour, with a purple rim, intense aromas, and concentrated violet, blackberries, black cherries, toast, liquorice, black pepper, and black olive notes. Leung said: “It’s elegant, well integrated with oak, with nice dark fruits, black pepper and spices, good acidity and a lingering finish. It doesn’t taste like a typical Shiraz. It’s a really nice wine.”

Among the seven Gold medals awarded in the competition, one Pinot Noir was highlighted because it came from a somewhat surprising part of the world. The judges awarded the medal to Alpha Estate Ecosystem Pinot Noir Single Block Strofi 2022, from Amyndeon in Greece. The wine (price range HK$250-HK$300) is oaked, made from 100% Pinot Noir, with “light ruby colour, complexity, and with good acidity, with violet, toast, raspberries, wild strawberries, and spice notes”.

Wong said: “It’s elegant, balanced, and aromatic. It’s well integrated with oak and it has nice acidity. It’s very smooth with fine-grained tannins. It’s a lovely wine.”

Under the oaked Syrah category, three Gold awards went to wines priced under HK$100. One Gold award went to Table Mountain Shiraz 2023 from South Africa’s Western Cape. It features “deep ruby colour, balanced and with blackberries, violet, liquorice, and peppery notes”.

The judges awarded another Gold to Two Oceans Shiraz 2023 from the same region of South Africa, with “deep ruby colour, blueberries, blackberries, toasty and a hint of herbs”.

Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve The High Noon Shiraz 2022, this time from Cape Town, also won Gold, with “deep ruby colour, good structure with toasty, black plum, black pepper, oak and a bit earthy notes”.

Wakefield Jaraman Shiraz 2022, from Clare Valley/McLaren Vale, Australia, won Gold in the HK$150-HK$200 price range, which was “well integrated with oak, blackberries, toast, spices and black olive notes”.

In the HK$350-HK$400 price range, the Gold award went to Golden Amrita Single Estate Shiraz 2021, from Barossa Valley, Australia, which exhibited “a deep ruby colour with a purple rim, black cherries, oak, spices, good structure, with smooth tannins”.

A Syrah blend from Church Road also won a Gold medal. The wine, its Grand Reserve Syrah 2021, is made with 88.5% Syrah grown in New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay. The wine shows “deep ruby colour, elegant, very floral, silky tannins, blackberries, toasty and vanilla notes”. dba

Oaked Pinot Noir

Winery	Name of Wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
HK$100-HKS150
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Wakefield Estate Pinot Noir	Limestone Coast/Clare Valley	Australia	2023	Bronze
HK$150-HK$200
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Wakefield Jaraman Pinot Noir	Adelaide Hills/Tasmania	Australia	2023	Silver
HK$250-HK$300
Alpha Estate	Alpha Esate Ecosystem Pinot Noir Single Block “Strofi”	Amyndeon	Greece	2022	Gold

 

Oaked 100% Syrah

Winery	Name of Wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Under K$100
Adam Tas	Two Oceans Shiraz	Western Cape	South Africa	2023	Gold
Durbanville Hills	Durbanville Hills Collectors Reserve The High Noon Shiraz	Cape Town	South Africa	2022	Gold
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Taylors Special Release Shiraz	Clare Valley	Australia	2022	Gold
Adam Tas	Table Mountain Shiraz	Western Cape	South Africa	2023	Bronze
HK$100-HK$150
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Wakefield Estate Shiraz	Clare Valley/Limestone Coast	Australia	2022	Silver
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Taylors Taylor Made Shiraz	Clare Valley	Australia	2022	Silver
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Taylors Reserve Parcel Shiraz	Clare Valley/Limestone Coast	Australia	2022	Silver
HK$150-HK$200
Golden Amrita Winery	Golden Amrita Sunshine Hill Shiraz	Barossa Valley	Australia	2021	Master
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Wakefield Jaraman Shiraz	Clare Valley/McLaren Vale	Australia	2022	Gold
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Taylors Heritage Shiraz	Clare Valley	Australia	2023	Silver
HK$250-HKS300
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Wakefield Masterstroke Shiraz	McLaren Vale	Australia	2021	Silver
Golden Amrita Winery	Golden Amrita Lumenval Moppa Shiraz	Barossa Valley	Australia	2021	Silver
HKD350-HKS400
Golden Amrita Winery	Golden Amrita Single Estate Shiraz	Barossa Valley	Australia	2021	Gold
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Wakefield St Andrews Shiraz	Clare Valley	Australia	2021	Silver
HKD1,000-HK$1,200
Wakefield Taylors Family Wines	Wakefield Pioneer Shiraz	Clare Valley	Australia	2020	Master
Church Road	Church Road 1 Syrah	Hawke’s Bay	New Zealand	2021	Master

 

Oaked Blended Syrah

Winery	Name of Wine	Region	Country	Vint.	Medal
Under HK$100
Durbanville Hills	Durbanville Hills Cool Climate Shiraz	Durbanville	South Africa	2022	Bronze
Nederburg	Nederburg The Winemasters Shiraz	Western Cape	South Africa	2022	Bronze
Nederburg	Nederburg The Manor House Shiraz	Coastal	South Africa	2022	Bronze
HK$100-HK$150
Luis Felipe Edwards	Shiraz Gran Reserva	Colchagua	Chile	2023	Bronze
HK$150-HK$200
Luis Felipe Edwards	360 Red Blend	Colchagua	Chile	2019	Silver
HK$600-HK$650
Church Road	Church Road Grand Reserve Syrah	Hawke’s Bay	New Zealand	2021	Gold

 

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