Main Divide Waipara Merlot Cabernet 2017

Description

"Offering good value, Pegasus Bay’s red is fragrant, full-coloured and mouth filling, with plum, spice and blackcurrant flavours, showing excellent ripeness and depth" Michael Cooper, The Listener Magazine, 2019

"Main Divide wines are named after the Southern Alps (Kā Tiritiri o te Moana), which divide the east coast from the west in the South Island of New Zealand. It’s a fitting name for a great range of wines from Pegasus Bay in North Canterbury. This blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% each of Malbec and Cabernet Franc was fermented in stainless steel with regular draining and spraying back over the cap of the skins to gently extract tannins. It was aged in French oak for 18 months, just 10% new oak, ensuring minimum wood flavour and maximum softening effects" Joelle Thomson, Jun 2019

On release the wine has a deep and vibrant ruby colour. The generous aromas and flavours suggest wild blackberries, purple plums and cassis with hints of vanilla pod, cigar box and dark chocolate. While it is generously mouth filling and broad shouldered it is also well rounded with ripe velvety tannins and a lingering finish.

The Merlot gives it sweet raspberry, wild blackberry and purple plum aromas and flavours, as well as a plump, rich mid-palate. The Cabernet provides a vibrant cassis-like character and a back-bone of muscley, ripe tannins which give structure and length in the mouth. These impressions linger well after swallowing and draw out the wine's palate length.