From a warm, dry vintage. The handpicked fruit (42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Tempranillo, 24% Cabernet Franc) was sourced from established vineyards in the stony river bed soils of the Gimblett Gravels in Hawke\u2019s Bay. Predominantly de-stemmed grapes were co-fermented in open top vessels and punched down twice daily during fermentation. After pressing, the wines remained in tank for malolactic fermentation before transfer to 50% new French and American oak barriques for maturation. The wine was bottled after 18 months in barrel and sealed under cork which is in excellent condition. As a result of the extraction the colour is a deep, opaque purple with lifted and exotic aromas of spiced plum, blueberry and perfumed notes of cedar and sandalwood. Grippy tannins, again reflective of the wine making, has also lead to concentrated black fruit profile with blackberries, blackcurrant and charred oak flavours. Overall, best described as \u2018bold and powerful\u2019 but with a smooth finish, which, to my mind, is as a result of the American oak influence. Many years ahead – recommend a 2-3 hour decant. 93pts<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From a warm, dry vintage. The handpicked fruit (42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Tempranillo, 24% Cabernet Franc) was sourced from established vineyards in the stony river bed soils of the Gimblett … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wine-review-by-winefolio"],"yoast_head":"\n