Now, I sometimes say ‘there’s not many of these about’ when writing reviews of wines – maybe it is a New Zealand Tempranillo, or a wine with a production of only 560 bottles…but in the case of tonight’s wine, it is an entirely different matter. Tom McDonald, one of Hawke’s Bay’s pioneers of fine wine, and possibly the highest-regarded winemaker the nation has ever known would have had a part to play in the creation of this wine. For a bottle made by his hand to be in drinkable condition today, is something very rare indeed. A collector’s item of course, but how would such a wine taste?
The colour is remarkably bright and claret to brick red in hue – with just a little opacity and browning at the edges to indicate the age of the bottling. Under cork, which was tricky to extract whole. The tasters did cartwheels at the freshness of the bouquet (as well as the colour). A signature cassis, graphite and bramble of the varietal are joined by notes of blood orange, mint, plum and kirsch alongside delicate lavender and musk rose florals. The body is light and agile, with plentiful energy and lift – considering the forty plus years it has been slumbering. Acidity has softened into a smooth glide through the palate, but the fine, chalky tannin still has a little rasp. Many wines of this elderly nature will fall over quite quickly once opened – but in the time we enjoyed this is absolutely did not do that… evolving in the glass certainly, with more savoury elements coming to the fore as the fruit blew through, but not collapsing in a muddle. The finish was true, precise and clean – like a good pre-Parker Bordeaux claret. 94pts
