Petal & Stem Hawke's Bay Merlot 2022

Description

Cherry, Oak, Spice

This Merlot blossoms with concentrated notes of plum, dark cherry, underlying cassis and warming spice. The palate dances with silky, finely balanced supple tannins and a rich lingering finish. 

Journey into the wildflowers, a secret world between the vines, where insects dance from petal to stem, a flourishing ecosystem amongst the rows. It’s all part of the bigger picture to protect our vines and keep pests away naturally. So as you’re busy enjoying this wine, remember our little friends between the flowers who help us to do things both differently, and beautifully.

The 2022 vintage growing season started off early due it a warm winter/spring, resulting in early budhurst. During the early stages of summer, the region experienced a healthy amount of rain, which lead to strong vine growth and full canopies. This was then followed by a warm and dry period, producing small berries, with balanced canopies. Despite rain events just before harvest and another later season, we still managed to pick quality fruit at optimal ripeness. This leading to a Merlot that is deeply coloured, with great varietal complexity, acidity and tannin.

The low yielding Merlot was harvested 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. After aging with a range of oak, it was then blended, stabilised and filtered prior to bottling.

Food Pairing: Beautiful with barbequed red meats, warming stews or dark chocolate.