Paritua 21.12 Hawke's Bay Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Cabernet Franc 2021

Description

Blackberry, Oak, Spice

"A fantastic wine with concentration, complexity, power and presence. Flavours of dark berries, dark plums, cacao and toasty baking spices from wood and bottle settling harmony. A dry full-bodied wine with an equal amount of power and complexity framing the flavours of dark red berries and plums, cinnamon and vanilla , clove and baking spices. An abundance of tannins are polished and along with the acidity frame the fruit and mouthfeel perfectly. Tasted over 3 days the wine is as delicious on day three as it was on day one. Lengthy, complex and delicious with best drinking from 2027 through 2037+" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, Nov 2024

"An impressively concentrated and ripe display of berry fruit, blackcurrant, anise and plum with charry oak, roasting coffee and cocoa nib. Masses of structure here but well-submerged and with just a touch of heat on the finish. The fruit is currently very primary. Concentrated, dense flavours with opulent weight and velvet-textured tannins compete for attention in this muscular, powerful and bold wine. Give it a long sleep in the cellar to get the most out of it, but there is enough balance and depth already to be enjoyable if needs must" Stephen Wong, The Real Review, Oct 2024

A complex aroma of black currant, and black cherry, fresh tobacco, cocoa powder hints of oyster shell, clove, cardamom, cedar, a hint of violet floral, and a sous bois note. The palate has great structure and layers of complexity of flavour. Silky texture, with a plush concentrated blackberry palate, with ripe black cherry cocoa powder and spice on the mid palate, a hint of mineral elegance expressed as oyster shell with a long flavored fine grained tannin finish. Recommended drinking from 2025 till 2045.

The very best sub blocks on the Paritua Vineyard at 2112 Maraekakaho Road have been selected to grow extremely low yielding vines. Management and care for this flagship wine starts with pruning. The vines are manicured from then onwards, with crop thinning to one bunch per cane and a manual leaf-pluck pre veraison. The canopy is kept open to provide for airflow and sun exposure. At optimum ripeness we hand harvest selected rows.

Whole bunches are de-stemmed, the berries are then sorted using our optical grape sorter, then crushed to a closed fermenter. After a cold soak, we inoculate with preferred yeast.
Temperatures are then managed to reach about 30°C. Once the ferment is dry the wine is tasted to evaluate maceration time, usually 20 to 28 days post ferment, Malolactic fermentation occurs on skins during maceration, and then finally basket pressed to barrel. Barrels are stored in temperature-controlled rooms, at 8 degrees Celsius. We use 50% new French oak barriques. Elevage in barrel will take up to 24 months. Final barrel selection and blending takes place approximately 8 weeks before bottling.

Food Pairing: Lamb shoulder, mushroom galette, steak fries.