Mt Difficulty Ghost Town Syrah 2024
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Tasting Notes
Mt Difficulty Ghost Town Syrah 2024 is handcrafted in very limited quantities from Mt Difficulty's Bendigo vineyard in Central Otago. One of the few Syrahs you'll find from a region so famous for Pinot Noir.
A deep, opaque crimson Syrah with lavender, crushed schist and graphite over black and blue berry fruit on the nose. The palate bursts with jubey red and black pastilles, fine milk chocolate though the mid palate tempered with a layer of dried herbs - thyme and rosemary - from the whole bunch component. The finish is dense and structured, with firm but fine grained tannin, and a pleasant alpine amaro note to close.
CELLARING POTENTIAL
We expect this wine to evolve with careful cellaring for another 10-15 years.
Vintage Notes
VINTAGE 2024
The 2024 vintage continued a strong run for Central Otago, driven by a warm, dry El Niño season. Excellent flowering conditions set up strong yields, while persistent winds from November to January kept disease pressure low. Despite soil moisture nearing drought levels, vine health was maintained, producing small berries and concentrated, balanced wines.
No rain in February led to an early harvest starting March 14, with cooler weather later in March extending hang time. Harvest wrapped by Anzac Day, delivering another standout vintage.
WINEMAKING CONSIDERATIONS
The different clones were picked in two passes by hand. The fruit was destemmed, with the MS clone retained as a 100% whole bunch fermentation. Once processed, the fruit was cold soaked for 6 days before warming for indigenous fermentation. Very minimal extraction during fermentation, and the wines were pressed off skins around 20 days in total. Settled in tank for several days before racking to French Oak, with only 10% new barrels. A mixture of 500L Puncheons and 228L barriques were used for elevage, to preserve the aromatic purity of the wine. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered after 12 months barrel aging.
Alc. 14% T/A 6.20g pH 3.61 Residual Sugar 0 gL-1