Paritua Stone Paddock Hawke's Bay Merlot 2023

Description

Floral, Oak, Plum

Deep ruby red in colour, the wine exhibits ripe plum aromas with five spice, vanilla, and cedar notes from the oak. Sous-bois and graphite notes support the plush and velvety palate which shows dark fruits dominated by plum, clove and a hint of mocha, accompanied by fleshy tannins. The oak influence is subtle and provides structure and a lingering Plum stone finish. This wine will continue to age gracefully for several years. Ideal drinking from 2023 until 2030.

The Merlot vines at Paritua are planted on free draining red gravel soils. The vines are managed with an open canopy to provide good airflow and exposure to sunlight. All the canopies are single cordon spur pruned.

All fruit is destemmed to closed fermenters. Cold soaking takes place before fermentation which will last approximately 10 days with regular pump overs to optimize extraction of colour flavour and tannin. Daily assessment of flavour and structure determines when we press. The must is pressed when maximum flavour is achieved, we then keep each batch separate during barrel maturation for at least 12 months, and we then blend the batches prior to bottling.

Food Pairing: Cheese burger, dark berries, blue cheese.