• French oak
• Ripe cherry
• Roasted nut
• Velvety smooth

"Sweetly fruited and elegantly complex, the bouquet shows ripe cherry, pomegranate, thyme and roasted nut aromas, followed by a silky-smooth palate offering lovely fruit purity combined with attractive complexity, finishing persistent and velvety. At its best: now to 2028" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, May 2023

Deep, rich red in colour with an appealing combination of bright red fruit and savoury notes on the nose. A smooth, polished palate with a well-rounded fruit core flows to deep, rich berry fruit, spice and subtle oak.

Grapes for this wine are selected from Home and McLeod Vineyards on the Martinborough Terrace, one of New Zealand’s most coveted winegrowing sub-regions. Once a riverbed, it features deep ancient alluvial gravel soils. Grapes are also selected from our Rua Vineyard, at a slightly higher elevation with more extreme conditions. All of our vineyards are sustainably farmed.

A compact vintage due to unsettled weather. We saw budburst early in August along with the usual Spring frosts in Martinborough. An early glimpse of Summer resulted in favourable flowering temperatures and ripening for the remainder of the month. From February the rain set in, marking it as one of the wettest on record. A challenging harvest began in March and ended in April.

Under the direction of Chief Winemaker, John Kavanagh, our winemaking philosophy places a premium on the character of each vineyard. The grapes are harvested block
by block, destemmed and vinified individually with punch-downs and gentle pressing to ensure full extraction without sacrificing elegance. Balanced oak treatment and minimal fining and filtration help preserve both varietal character and the inimitable personality of the terroir.

Food Pairing: A savoury finish makes this wine a perfect match for wood fired Neapolitan pizza.