• Spicy oak
• Dark berry
• Dried herbs
• Moreish

This delicious red wine displays seductive dark berry notes with perfumed aromas of violets, dried herbs and spicy oak. The palate is soft and smooth with sweetfruit and supple tannins providing a moreish glass of red.

The fruit from this wine comes from a range of Villa Maria Hawke's Bay vineyards located on the Gimblett Gravels, where free draining alluvial soils temper vine vigour, resulting in low yields of ripe and concentration fruit.

Once crushed to open-top fermenters the grapes were inoculated with several strains of yeast and fermented at 28-30 degrees C. Post fermentation the parcels are pressed off and the young wine is matured with oak for 14 months. After maturation the individual parcels were blended together, and the wine was lightly fined and filtered ready for bottling.

Food Pairing: Merlot-Cabernet blends are particularly good when paired with robust, full-flavoured dishes, red meat and cheeses. Drink now or hold for up to 3-5 years when the wine will develop further complexity.