Craggy Range, founded in 1998 by Terry Peabody and Steve Smith MW, built its reputation on single-vineyard wines from Hawke's Bay's Gimblett Gravels. The district is a defined area of deep, free-draining greywacke gravels on the old Ngaruroro riverbed, a warm, stony terroir that reflects heat and suits later-ripening Syrah. Vines here work hard on low-vigour soils, giving small, concentrated berries. The 2024 Syrah comes from these gravel blocks; precise growing-season detail for the vintage is not confirmed here, so it is described in general terms.

The Syrah was destemmed and fermented on skins, in Craggy Range's northern-Rhone-influenced style, then matured in French oak barrels, a portion new, to frame rather than dominate the fruit. Reviewers report lavender and sweet-cherry aromatics over blackberry, brambleberry and a gamey, crushed-stone character with fine tannins, pointing to gentle extraction and measured oak. Exact fermentation vessel, whole-bunch proportion, oak regime and time in barrel for the 2024 are not confirmed here. Sealed under screw cap.