Savoury dry earth and an expressive complexity greet the nose upon its first smell of this wine. The aromatics than evolve into violets, ripe dark cherry and medieval spice upon second approach and as the wine opens up and breathes. The palate is rich and earthy with distinctly dusty tannins. The tannins are firm but the wine remains vibrant and not too heavy resulting in a fresh finish.

Hawke’s Bay lies on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The region enjoys dry summers with moderate, cool nights. This wine reflects a single
vineyard Malbec which was grown on the famous Gimblett Gravels appellation. The Gimblett Gravels is demarked by specific soils laid bare from the constantly shifting Ngaruroro River over millions of years. The river’s last shift in 1867 left these amazing rocky soils, which combined with the slightly inland Heretaunga Plains’ weather, and classic viticulture techniques created a uniquely expressive Malbec.

Hand-picked in late April and transported in whole bunches from the vineyard to the close-by winery in small baskets. The fruit was then destemmed and only
lightly crushed to allow the skins to slowly breakdown during the fermentation. The fruit was then cold macerated for 5 days onskins before slowly warming each of the 2 tonne fermenters and allowing a wild fermentation to kick in. Fermentation lasted 18 days before the wine was then macerated on skins again for an additional 19 days. The wine was then pressed to tank before put to 50% 2 and 3 year old barriqes and 50% neutral oak barriques. The wine was aged for 10 months and then racked and prepared for bottling in late March.