"Wonderfully fragrant and inviting, the bouquet shows cassis, dark plum, blueberry and floral with nuances of mixed spice and game. It is beautifully weighted, and delivers excellent mid palate focus and texture, backed by fine, grainy tannins. The wine flows seamlessly, despite its youth, and promises to evolve gracefully. A blend of merlot (76%), cabernet sauvignon (14%) and cabernet franc (10%). At its best: 2017 to 2025." Sam Kim Wine Orbit, July 2016

"Very dark, deep, black-hued purple-red colour, a little lighter on the edge.  The nose is well-proportioned and tightly bound with a concentrated core of black berried fruit along with dark plums, blackcurrants and cassis liqueur.  Fresh primary herbal detail and nuances of iron-earth and minerals lend freshness and a degree of complexity to the aromatics.  Medium-full bodied and elegant in presentation, this has a tightly bound core with sweetly ripe blackberry fruit with black plums, blackcurrants and cassis.  The fruit has depth and intensity, and is supported by very fine-grained tannin extraction, providing plenty of structure and grip to the mouthfeel.  The wine has good drive and linearity, unfolding nuances of dark herbs, iron-earth minerality as it carries to a concentrated, lingering finish.  This is a tightly bound and concentrated Merlot blend with black fruits and plenty of fine-grained structure and line.  Match with roast lamb, beef and venison over the next 7-9 years.  A blend of 76% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc from the ‘Silverton Estate’, Puketapu, ‘Highway 50’ vineyard and ‘Shepherd’s Croft’ Bridge Pa sites, given a pre-ferment soak and indigenous yeast fermentation in 228 L to 350 L barrels to 14.0% alc., the wine aged 15 months in 25% new oak" Raymond Chan, Aug 2016

Deep red with purple hues. Black Doris plums, cassis and Christmas cake spice. Some underlying umami notes of seaweed  and toasted barrel nuance. Broad and rich dark fruit flavours with a finely structured front palate phenolic profile.

All parcels vinified using an adapted Burgundian approach: small parcels of fruit, pre-ferment soak on skins and wild yeast fermentation. Malo-lactic fermentation in barrel. Aging in tight grain Burgundy barrels - 228L, 300L, 350L. 25% new, 25% one year, 50% two to four years old.  15 months maturation with one racking prior to Vintage 16. Bottled un-fined and un-filtered.

Alluviale is the French word for alluvial and it refers to soils made up of sand, silt and gravel. Alluviale wines are made from French grape varieties that thrive on these soils, the bordeaux varieties of sauvignon blanc, semillon, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and malbec. bordeaux is the most famous wine region in the world and situated on the Atlantic coast of France.