Tohu Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2023

Description

Blackberry, Oak, Spice

Black fruit and dark plum aromas seamlessly blend with subtle spicy notes in this smooth and silky Hawke’s Bay Merlot. On the palate flavours of blackberry, cassis and hints of cocoa are balanced with fine tannins leading to a dry and richly textured finish.

Hawke’s Bay is renowned for the production of full-bodied red wines made with classic Bordeaux varietals, including Merlot. The difficult 2022/2023 growing season will be remembered for the devastating effects that Cyclone Gabrielle brought to the Hawke’s Bay Region. The season started wetter than average, with a cool summer and slow ripening conditions in the vines. A great deal of hard work was carried out in the vineyard to keep the canopy open and disease pressure at a minimum. February saw five time more rain than average with the arrival of Gabrielle, however the late season saw welcome warm, dry and settled weather return for the harvest.

Hand-harvested fruit was picked into small bins before being transported to the winery - where the grapes were lightly crushed and destemmed into open-top stainless-steel fermenters. After a short cold soak period the must was warmed and inoculated with select yeast cultures. After inoculation the juice underwent a rapid fermentation with temperatures peaking at 30 to 33ᵒC. Post-fermentation the resulting wine underwent a short maceration on skins before being pressed and then undergoing a secondary malolactic fermentation. Once this was complete the wine was allowed to age in French oak for 10 months before being prepared for bottling in late February 2024.