Stoneleigh Marlborough Merlot 2020

Description

Cherry, Oak, Spice

• French oak
• Plum & blackberries
• Subtle spice
• Fleshy & textural

This wine has a dark, plummy hue. The aroma is fragrant with plums, blackberries and black cherry notes. The palate shows plums, cherry and blackberry fruit flavours supported by a fleshy, textural palate. The toasty oak provides subtle spicy and savoury characters that are well integrated with the fruit.

The Stoneleigh range consists of distinctive, elegant, fruit forward Marlborough wines that reflect the unique terroir of our stone-studded vineyards. Started by nature and finished by the talents of the Stoneleigh winemakers, our philosophy of minimum intervention in the winery ensures that the vibrant avours of Stoneleigh are captured in each and every bottle.

The grapes were machine-harvested during early to mid-April, once the flavour potential was maximised. The grapes were destemmed into a number of small open top fermenters. The must was wild fermented until it had fermented dry with temperatures peaking at around 30 ̊C. The wine was drained to mostly French oak
barriques of different ages and coopers. Malolactic fermentation was carried out in barrel and after several months of maturation the winemaker blended the two vineyard sites, different coopers and oak ages to craft this Stoneleigh Merlot.

Food Pairing: Best enjoyed as an accompaniment to succulent red meat dishes such as spring lamb, game and roast beef served with dark sauces.