Mystery Marlborough Merlot 2021

Description

Oak, Plum, Spice

• French oak
• Ripe plum & berries
• Christmas spice
• Toasty finish

Deep ruby core and purple tinged rim. Ripe dark berries and chocolate with mixed Christmas spices. Fruit driven with flavours of dark ripe plum and blackcurrant. The palate is rich and silky with a dark chocolate like structure and a long toasty finish. Approachable now and will continue to evolve for a further five years and beyond.

Fruit was harvested from a number of specifically chosen, naturally low cropping vineyards from Marlborough’s Wairau Plain. The grapes were carefully monitored until they reached full physiological ripeness.

Following de-stemming into stainless steel tanks the grapes were cold soaked for five days. This assists with maximising the extraction of flavour and colour. Inoculated with specialised yeast to finish fermentation and then hand plunged and pumped over for gentle extraction of colour, flavour and tannin. The young wine was kept in contact with skins and tasted daily until the right extraction and balance was achieved then gently pressed. Once settled it was then racked to settling tanks and seasoned French oak where it underwent secondary fermentation (malolactic fermentation).  After ageing on light lees the wine was blended, fined, balanced and carefully prepared for bottling.

Food Pairing: A perfect match for grilled fillet steak with mushrooms and a red wine sauce.