• Smooth oak
• Rich plum
• Cocoa powder
• Savoury notes

"Dark, deep, black-hued purple-ruby colour with good depth, a little lighter on the rim, youthful in appearance. The nose is elegant in presentation with fresh, bright, ripe, aromatic dark-red berry and black plum fruit, still quite primary in expression with floral and esters lift. Medium-bodied, the palate has a bright, lively and vibrant heart of primary dark-red berry fruit with subtle aromatic plum notes. The fruit is sweet with floral lift, unfolding hints of spices and dark herbs. The fruit is underlined by light, grainy tannin texture with a fresh line of acidity providing tension and energy. The wine carries to a clean and fresh finish of berries and plums. This is a bright and lively, primary fruited Merlot with berry and plum flavours with primary aromatic lift on a tight-textured, refreshing palate. Fruit from Hawkes Bay, trucked to the Marlborough winery and fermented to 13.0% alc., the wine aged 8 months in French and American oak" Raymond Chan, Jun 2018

"Still youthful, this single-vineyard red is deeply coloured, fragrant and full bodied, with greater intensity than you'd expect in its price range. Packed with plummy, spicy fruit, it is moderately firm, with a long life ahead"  Wine State, 2018

"Offering good value, the youthful 2017 vintage (4*) is a single-vineyard red, French and American oak-aged. Deeply coloured, it is fragrant and full-bodied, with concentrated, plummy, spicy flavours and a moderately firm finish. Best drinking 2020+" Michael Cooper, 2018

"Fabulously ripe and fragrant, the bouquet shows Black Doris plum, blueberry compote, floral and spice aromas with subtle toasted almond complexity. The palate is succulent and plump, delivering lovely mid palate weight and roundness, beautifully supported by silky texture and fine, chalky tannins. From the Gimblett Gravels district. At its best: now to 2021." Wine Orbit, 2018

A structured palate led by rich plum fruits, cocoa powder tannin and a smooth savoury note. Hints of subtle smooth oak on the finish.

Harvesting took place in late March when the grapes were at optimum ripenes and full of rich flavours. A cold soak took place to enhance flavour and colour extraction. The juice was then inoculated with specially selected year strain for fermentation and then gently plunged and pumped over to fully extract tanning, colour and flavour. Aged with seasoned French and American oak for eight months, it then underwent malolactic fermentation prior to being lightly fined before careful bottling. Drinking excellently now, and will continue to evolve over the next five years. 

The flavourful fruit was grown in a vineyard within the Hawkes Bay wine making region. The vineyard is right next to the Ngaruroro River, so has free draining gravel based soils which provide a great base for Merlot. These vineyards sites have ideal ripening conditions for achieving the rich plum and cocoa powder tannings that the Merlot displays. The fruit was carefully monitored during ripening, and harvesting in the cool evening at maximum flavour maturity and physiological ripeness, and trucked to our winery in Marlborough for fermentation.