{"id":14572,"date":"2026-04-25T07:22:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=14572"},"modified":"2026-04-25T07:22:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T19:22:55","slug":"villa-maria-library-release-merlot-cabernet-sauvignon-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=14572","title":{"rendered":"Villa Maria \u2018Library Release\u2019 Merlot\/Cabernet Sauvignon 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It is my understanding that this was another example of the forward thinking of the legendary icon of the NZ Wine industry Sir George Fistonich. Under the \u201cLibrary Release\u201d programme the Villa Maria winemakers were encouraged to identify parcels of fruit deemed to be of exceptional quality, which had the attributes of being able to develop well with bottle age and that would show great complexity and could be released in future years. In my view they certainly hit the brief and knocked it out of the park with this wine.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>A blend of 62% Merlot and 38% Cabernet Sauvignon from the \u2018Twyford\u2019 and \u2018Omahu\u2019 sites, from vines 12-14 y.o. aged 18 months in 60% new French oak barrels with three \u2018rack and returns\u2019. Under screwcap.<\/p>\n<p>Deep opaque ruby, yet is still bright and glossy.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>Wow! what a nose. Black fruit &#8211; boysenberry, blackcurrant, blackberry and plum along with perfumed notes of violets and old English roses. It delivers silky tannins combined with rich mouth-coating fruit that still has sweetness and concentration while being very elegant. The flavour profile of cassis, bramble and mocha along with some attractive oak is well balanced with soft, supple acidity. The finish is lingering and you are impulsively drawn back for another sniff of the enchanting aromas, texture and flavour of this wine. <b>97pts<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is my understanding that this was another example of the forward thinking of the legendary icon of the NZ Wine industry Sir George Fistonich. Under the \u201cLibrary Release\u201d programme &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wine-review-by-winefolio"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Villa Maria \u2018Library Release\u2019 Merlot\/Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 - WineFolio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=14572\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Villa Maria \u2018Library Release\u2019 Merlot\/Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 - WineFolio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is my understanding that this was another example of the forward thinking of the legendary icon of the NZ Wine industry Sir George Fistonich. 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