"Wonderfully fruited and inviting, showing blackberry, plum, toasted almond, floral and cigar characters, leading to a beautifully weighted palate that is plump and fleshy. The wine offers youthful fruit purity and delightful intensity, backed by fine chalky tannins, finishing impressively long and attractive. At its best: now to 2023"

"Dark, deep, black-hued ruby-red colour, a little lighter on the rim. The nose is elegantly presented with finely concentrated and packed aromas of ripe dark-red and black plums and berry fruit, along with subtle notes of blackcurrants and herbs, with spiced blackberries and iron-earth elements emerging in the glass. Medium-full bodied, the palate has a rich and well-packed heart with deep and dense flavours of ripe, savoury dark-red and black plum fruit, entwined with some blackcurrants, spiced plum, liquorice and earthy interest. The fruit sweetness is balanced by fine, grainy tannin structure lending grip and texture. The wine carries to a long finish of plums and liquorice with some alcoholic power. This is a rich and well-packed Merlot blend with plum flavours along with liquorice and spice, iron-earth complexity on a fine, grainy palate. Match with roasted lamb, beef and venison, and semi-hard cheeses over the next 6+ years. A blend of 67% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Malbec and 5% Cabernet Franc, 55% from the Gimblett Gravels and 45% from the Triangle vineyards, fermented to 13.5% alc., the wine aged 22 months in 30% new French oak barriques" Raymond Chan, Oct 2018

This wine displays juicy, rich Black Doris plum and cassis flavours with well-balanced acidity and fine-grained tannin. It is a wine that will continue to evolve and develop.

2016 was a cooler, slower and late vintage compared to the last three vintages. However, this allowed red varieties to experience a long and gentle ripening period. With multiple picks over a two-week period from late March to mid-April, the result is a wine that exhibits the purity of fruit and elegance typical for a Hawke’s Bay red blend.

This is a blend of 67% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Malbec and 5% Cabernet Franc from Gimblett (55%) and Triangle Vineyards (45%). The grapes were 100% destemmed and fermented in numerous small batch ferments then gently pressed to oak barriques. The wine received 22 months in 30% new French oak.

Owned by the German Weiss family, Elephant Hill is a vineyard and winery estate specialised in producing premium wines.