TUA RITA KEIR 750ML 2022

Using 40% whole-bunch fruit fermented on the skins in tava (amphora) for six months, this is an impressively fragrant expression of Syrah offering perfumed violet, lavender, blackcurrant pastille, Mediterranean herbs and petrichor. Intense, textured, ripe and round, the texture is all softness but the shape is vertical, supported by saline acidity. Beautiful.

The 2022 Keir is a classic Tua Rita wine. Dark cherry, plum, spice, new leather, licorice and mocha are all amplified in this decidedly broad, expansive Syrah from Tua Rita. The 40-50% stems are nearly buried by the sheer density of the fruit.

The Tua Rita 2022 Keir Rosso is all Syrah made in amphorae with up to 20% whole-cluster fruit (depending on the vintage). The wine finishes malolactic fermentation in the clay vessels and is taken out in March of the following year. The winery uses Manetti clay pots with six-centimeter-thick walls that offer enough porosity for careful oxidation. The 2023 edition was a little closed initially, showing dark fruit and blackberry traits nevertheless. The wine is concentrated and texturally rich. The hot vintage is perhaps less focused on vertical aromas and more focused on the broader impact of the mouthfeel. The vines were planted in 2004.