Red Wine - Merlot Cabernet Franc

Our perfect, fruit-filled mid-bodied red.

Our Merlot Cabernet Franc comes from our Cornerstone vineyard growing in Hawke's Bays' famed Gimblett Gravels appellation. An area renowned for producing excellent hot climate reds. We think Cornerstone is the jewel in the appellation's crown but there again we are rather biased!

In our Iris blend, the Merlot sets up the palate with ripeness and structure while the Cabernet Franc brings its sweet dried basil notes to create our deliciously good medium-bodied red

Food Matching

Our Merlot Cabernet Franc is a great match with grilled meats and wood-fired veggies. Pair it with tomato-based pasta and rich mushroom risotto or simply finish an evening with a glass and dark chocolate - a brilliantly indulgent combo!

Awards

93 Points

A captivating bouquet of dark berries, baking spices, dried herbs and olives. Flavours of roasted plums and kalamata olives, sweet spices of barrel and gently warming alcohol lead to a palate of texture and layers of fruit flavours, spices of wood and firmness of tannins and acidity. With each subsequent sip the wine gains some concentration and builds on the foundation of ripe fruit, judicious use of wood and youthfulness of acidity. A lovely example with best drinking alongside food with best drinking from late 2024 through 2029.

Cam Douglas, 2024

Vintage

2022 was a complicated vintage that saw our winemakers and viticulturists work closely with each other, drawing on their collective expertise.
Watching the weather forecasts continuously throughout the day to ensure picking scheduling was exact, maximising the sun for as long as possible.

 Vineyard Cornerstone (100%)

Cornerstone vineyard is planted in the famous Gimblett Gravels appellation. The canopy was kept open to ensure airflow around the bunches which kept them clean and open to sunlight. This meant that the fruit was picked at the exact time we needed to make the wine, rather than be dictated by the weather.

Wine Maker's Comments

The Merlot sets up the palate’s ripeness and structure while the Cabernet Franc compliments with sweet dried basil notes.

Wine Making & Fruit Handling

The varieties were hand-picked, de-stemmed into vessels and fermented separately. Gentle pump overs at varying times during the fermentation cycle extracted the ripe firm tannins. Natural yeast was used on 30% of the wine with added yeast on the remainder. Once the fermentation had completed the wines were pressed off to French barriques for a 10-month duration where they underwent natural malolactic fermentation.

Fermenatation Vessel

Fermented in stainless steel and matured in 100% French oak barriques.

Tech Notes

PH : 3.78

TA : 5.1gl

ALC : 13.8%

Residual Sugar : 0

Standard Drinks : 8.2

Varieties :  Merlot 81%, Cabernet Franc 13%, Malbec 3%, Cab Sav 3%

Bottle : June 2023

Egg whites used in the age old traditional way