Stables Ngatarawa Reserve Hawke's Bay Merlot 2019

Description

• Vanillin oak
• Fresh plum
• Blackberry
• Fine tannins

"Sweetly ripe and inviting, the bouquet shows Black Doris plum, roasted nut, olive and floral aromas, leading to a succulent palate delivering lovely fruit intensity and rounded mouthfeel. Upfront and flavoursome with a lengthy smooth finish. At its best: now to 2024" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Nov 2020

Deep red. Soft and round, this well balanced wine has fresh plum and berry flavours. Fine tannins add a gentle texture and subtle oak lingers on the palate. Full and fruity with plum, blackberry, savoury leather and vanillin oak.

Stables Reserve offers a sense of history with its name taken from the original Stables where it all started in the heart of the Hawke’s Bay. Gentle in style, the Stables range evokes life’s simple pleasures – warmth, hospitality and conversation.

The growing season started cooler than average but was followed by a very warm and dry January. February cooled bringing perfect ripening conditions followed by a dry March allowing fruit to be harvested in optimum condition. The grapes were crushed and transferred to a fermentation tank. The must was inoculated with a selected yeast strain to enhance varietal character. Twice daily pump overs were performed until the end of fermentation to enhance depth of flavour. The wine was left on skins for an extended period with daily tastings to determine the perfect time before pressing off the wine to achieve structure and mouthfeel. The wine was oak aged for 10 months before bottling.

By Winemaker James Ostergren.

Food Pairing: Beef, lamb or confit of duck.