Clearwater Cove East Coast Merlot 2017

Description

The 2017 Clearwater Cove Merlot has notes of plum, dark berries and underlying cassis. The palate is soft with finely balanced supple tannis and a rich lingering finish.

Along the length of our North and South Islands, the cool clear waters of the Pacific Ocean carve deep natural coves into the landscape. Intriguing for its unrivalled tranquillity, this spectacular eastern coastline of New Zealand is also renowned for its exceptional wines. In these beautiful, but harsh, conditions vines struggle for survival, producing low yields of high quality fruit with concentrated flavours.

2017 was a vintage like no other in Hawke’s Bay. A moderate spring was followed by a dry summer and an unseasonal period of rain in early April. All fruit was harvested before the untimely rain events. The vines are trained to VSP and underwent intensive canopy management and thinning which resulted in a complex, elegant and fresh wine.

The low yielding Merlot was harvested and de-stemmed directly into a mixture of open and closed fermenters. A traditional warm fermentation followed with regular pump overs to help craft a wine with elegance and balance. The fruit remained on skins after fermentation to build structure and mouthfeel, it was then gently pressed, settled and racked to stainless steel tanks to undergo malolactic fermentation. The wine spent the winter months aging with French oak before the blend was assembled, filtered and bottled.

Food Pairing: Enjoy with barbequed red meats, hearty stews or dark chocolate.