Village Vineyards Arataki Block Havelock North Red Blend 2021 $45 
The Evans family has transformed a sleepy little five-hectare block on Te Mata Road in Havelock North into a busy, vibrant vineyard where all sorts of magic happens. Merlot has become their most popular wine; it’s dominant in this bottle, but splashes of syrah and petit verdot add extra texture and complexity. The bottle’s label is by Lisa Nicole, an artist specialising in vintage-style, storybook-esque art. Fleshy, spice-saturated, slightly smoky, and long on flavour, it’s awesome with black bean and mushroom casserole. Drink now through 2029.
From Rhys Evans, the winemaker: “Arataki Road was a special place to us. We lived there and ran the Village Orchard for 30 plus years. The road itself is a stones throw from our Merlot block so we named these vines the Arataki Block. It sits just under the watchful eye of the sleeping giant Te Mata-o-Rongokako. The artwork is of the view from the block looking toward the peacefully resting warrior legend (Artist Lisa Nicole).
Arataki Block is a red blend of Merlot (80%), Syrah (15%) and Petit Verdot (5%). The grapes were hand de-stemmed, fermented wild and plunged by foot. No fining products used and unfiltered. The fruit was taken from our vineyard in its second year through organic conversion.”
