Steak sandwiches – paired in dish Summer 2020 If you are paying strict attention to the condition of your steaks for these sandwiches, you’d want to have a darn lovely red wine to nuzzle alongside them, right? That’s where the Brookfields Reserve Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Merlot 2015 ($59) sneaks up and snares you from the … Read More
merlot
Redmetal ‘The Merlot’ Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2000
Redmetal ‘The Merlot’ Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2000 $40 (sold out) Closing in on twenty years old, this merlot from the iron-rich, red-metal gravels of Hawke’s Bay’s Bridge Pa Triangle district is heading into its twilight years. I remember tasting this wine WAY back in 2004 and it was just a perky little puppy, it’s feet … Read More
Redmetal Erinview Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet Franc 2007
Redmetal Erinview Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet Franc 2007 $soldout Twelve years. Twelve years is clearly the magic number for this wine. Crafted by Grant Edmonds from fruit sourced from the long-ago sold Erinview vineyard, this merlot-dominant dominatrix is clad in leather and scented with berries and spice and is long and leggy and darn … Read More
Zaria Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2018
Zaria Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2018 $25 I love how winemaker Bryce Edmonds has such devotion to merlot. He always lets the vintage speak for itself, which is why each new release, to me, is so surprising and interesting. The 2018 is new to the market, but tastes like it’s been in the bottle for years. … Read More
Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Merlot Malbec 2015
Coopers Creek Select Vineyards Gimblett Gravels Hawke’s Bay Merlot Malbec 2015 $23.75 Previously sold under the ‘Metals and Gravels’ label, this 57:43 M & M blend is showing how fantastic 2015 was in Hawke’s Bay for merlot-dominant, Bordeaux-style red wines. Elegant, statuesque and stacked with buckets of black fruits, masses of Christmas pudding spices and … Read More
Leveret Estate Library Edition Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet 2009
Leveret Estate Library Edition Hawke’s Bay Merlot Cabernet 2009 $28 It’s not every day that you get to taste newly-released library stock of a ten-year-old merlot cabernet blend, and I’ll tell you this for a dollar. It’s pretty much vanilla and prune-infused perfection in a glass. Softly-styled and oozing into the bricky-red colour spectrum, it’s … Read More
Taiao Reserve Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc Malbec 2015
Taiao Reserve Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc Malbec 2015 $49.95 So deliciously decked out with dark chocolate, cherry, plum and soft pepper on the nose and palate, this exceptional wine from the Bridge Pa Triangle Winegrowing District has a deep, dark, smouldering personality, liquorice-licked layers of complexity in its statuesque structure. Earthy, wild at heart … Read More
Hãhã Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2018
Hãhã Hawke’s Bay Merlot 2018 $18 This new release is a super-smashable red that sings plum, plum and more plum! Warm and cuddly in the mouth, it coats the palate with cocoa and spice and slips down far too easily. Edged with pepper, the tannins are soft and woolly, yet add a hint of chew … Read More
Alpha Domus Special Reserve ‘The Aviator’ Hawke’s Bay 2016
Alpha Domus Special Reserve ‘The Aviator’ Hawke’s Bay 2016 $69 This is the flagship Bordeaux blend for the Alpha Domus team led by winemaker Barry Riwai, and this vintage is a blend dominated by cabernet sauvignon that’s boosted by cabernet frand, merlot and malbec from the famous, iron-rich, red gravels of the Bridge Pa Triangle … Read More
McPherson Family Vineyards The Angus Merlot 2017
McPherson Family Vineyards The Angus Merlot 2017 $22.99 Great merlot from Australia is something that I don’t get to experience very often (and that’s no fault of anyone- it’s just that I don’t actually ‘see’ them) This merlot from Mcpherson is some next level lovely. Scented with saddle leather and a smorgasbord of spices and … Read More