17/20 - Jancis Robinson
96/100 - Robert Parker The Wine Advocate
89/100 - Jean-Marc Quarin
5 Stars - Yvonne Lorkin
"One of New Zealand’s true icons, not just for Syrah but for wine in general. Grown in the iron-rich soils of the Bridge Pa Triangle, Te Mata’s Bullnose vineyard, is a 15-hectare site planted in 1990 and it’s home to former winemaker Peter Cowley and his family. 2020 was an incredible year for Syrah in Hawke’s Bay and the Bullnose has an elegant lift of blueberry, soft pepper, clay dust and violets on the nose, while on the palate it has silky, gently savoury, bay and blueberry layers and finelytuned tannins which lead to a long, stylish finish." Yvonne Lorkin

Winery description
"The wine is named Bullnose after an early Morris Cowley car, which was nicknamed Bullnose due to its distinctive radiator. The bull emblem that appears on the wine label is drawn from the car’s radiator crest.
Separate parcels of fully ripened syrah grapes were hand harvested from Te Mata Estate’s Bullnose, Isosceles and Hotspur Vineyards on 25 and 26 March 2021. The individual lots were each destemmed and given a traditional warm-plunged fermentation. The resulting wines underwent extended maceration on skins before pressing and then a secondary malolactic fermentation. The separate wines were then run to a mixture of new and seasoned French oak barriques for 16 months’ maturation. During this time, they were regularly topped and racked, before blending and then bottling in November 2022. Magnificent deep magenta, Bullnose ’21 entices with fl oral fragrance of lavender, violets and a dusting of cardamon and cinnamon developing on the palate into black cherry syrup, boysenberry and Turkish delight. Grace notes of char, truffle and pink peppercorns appear in layer upon layer of velvet tannins that run from front to back in the wine - extending the mid-palate presence into a long, sustained finish of saturated and spiced red berries. Bullnose ’21 is endlessly enchanting from every angle."

Bullnose ’21 is closed with a Diam cork, allowing continued evolution in bottle for 15 years from harvest.