{"id":14656,"date":"2026-05-06T07:06:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T19:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=14656"},"modified":"2026-05-06T07:06:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T19:06:26","slug":"esk-valley-reserve-merlot-malbec-cabernet-sauvignon-1996","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winefolio.co.nz\/?p=14656","title":{"rendered":"Esk Valley Reserve Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon 1996"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A wine from Hawke\u2019s Bay &#8211; being a blend of 62% Merlot, 29% Malbec and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon &#8211; the Merlot coming from Twyford Gravels and the Malbec from The Terraces vineyard. Now 30 years old, and sealed under cork &#8211; but both the cork and wine were in excellent condition.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>An inky, dark carmine red colour in the glass. Remarkably youthful aromas of blackberry, doris plum, cherry and blackcurrant. Savoury notes emerge with air, showing some tertiary notes to contrast the freshness of the fruit &#8211; black pepper, cedar, mushroom and cigar box. The palate also has that dual contrast between fruit held on clean acidity, and savoury tones that include a warmth of spicy oak. Tannin is sandy but has grip &#8211; the palate definitely still has plenty of firmness and I\u2019d say the wine isn\u2019t even close to being past it\u2019s best. <b>94pts<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A wine from Hawke\u2019s Bay &#8211; being a blend of 62% Merlot, 29% Malbec and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon &#8211; the Merlot coming from Twyford Gravels and the Malbec from The &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14651,"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-14656","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 v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Esk Valley Reserve Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon 1996 - 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