Rock Ferry The Corners Vineyard Marlborough Cabernet Franc 2023 $47.90 A deliciously vibrant Cabernet Franc from one of Marlborough’s organic viticulture pioneers. It’s a wine perfumed with smoked blueberry, fresh tobacco, bright berries, bay leaf, soft herbaceousness and a lick of earthy complexity. Fresh, energetic and showing luscious, softly prickly tannins, plush textures and a … Read More
cabernet franc
Maison Noire Single Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Franc 2023
Maison Noire Single Vineyard Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Franc 2023 $29 Grown high up on the Waimarama Road in the deep limestone clays of the Tukituki Valley, in a tiny vineyard tended by French winemaker Guillaume Thomas, this cabernet franc is deeply savoury, laced with brick dust and smoked blueberry and has gently drying tannins, fresh … Read More
Maison Noire Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Franc 2022
Maison Noire Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Franc 2022 $35 Cabernet franc is a rare thing to see on its own here in New Zealand, so it’s exciting whenever I see one, particularly one from one of the tiniest vineyards in Hawke’s Bay. Very new and youthfully fresh, it boasts a huge lift of bay leaf, blackcurrant, … Read More
Elephant Hill Hawke’s Bay Hieronymus 2019
Elephant Hill Hawke’s Bay Hieronymus 2019 $125 A blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon, (clone 10), 29% cabernet franc (clone 326) and 11% merlot (clone 181) sourced from predominantly their ‘Stone’ Gimblett Gravels vineyard, this wine is the epitome of what the Elephant Hill team can achieve from an excellent vintage. Inky-dark and glossy, this wine … Read More
Te Mata Estate Awatea Cabernets Merlot 2020
Te Mata Estate Awatea Cabernets Merlot 2020 $40 If I were in a hostage situation and the gunman said “Somebody better tell me what’s the greatest local Bordeaux-style red wine that I can buy for under fifty bucks, in the next five seconds or the granny gets it!” I would be hollering “Te Mata Awatea … Read More
Pask Gimblett Gravels CMMF 2019
Pask Gimblett Gravels CMMF 2019 $22 Holy berries Batman! Those Paskers really know how to blend. This absolutely champion combination of Cabernet Sauvignon 43.8% Malbec 18.8%, Merlot 16%, Cabernet Franc 6.8% is super-stylish, spice-dusted and saturated with ripe plums, leather and cocoa layers and a dusting of liquorice. 2019 was a sensational vintage for Hawke’s … Read More
Maison Noire Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc 2021
Maison Noire Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Franc 2021 $35 The nose of this wine absolutely roars with bay leaf and bouquet garni characters, a dusting of dark cocoa, gentle, plush plums and boysenberries ahoy! Classic cabernet characters of cigar box and cedar merge with blackcurrant, dark cherry, hints of black olive and briny goodness … Read More
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels The Gimblett 2021
Trinity Hill Gimblett Gravels The Gimblett 2021 $40 The way that winemakers Warren Gibson and Damien Fischer have evolved this blend over the last decade or so has been super-exciting to see, particularly as the proportion of cabernet franc is now sitting at 50%. The remainder of the blend consists of cabernet sauvignon and petit … Read More
Leftfield The Hatchling Hawke’s Bay Red Blend 2019
Leftfield The Hatchling Hawke’s Bay Red Blend 2019 $17.99 Paired with: Annabel Langbein’s Steak and kidney pie in Canvas Magazine NZ Herald Sat 4th June 2022 Boost your core-ingredient count from two (steak + kidney) to six by serving up a gloriously spicy glass of this blend of merlot, tempranillo, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon. … Read More
Kelly Washington Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Franc 2019
Kelly Washington Hawke’s Bay Cabernet Franc 2019 $50 Sourced from the iron-rich soils of the Bridge Pa Triangle district, this is a velvety-smooth example scented with blackcurrant leaf, dark cocoa, a hint of liquorice and blueberry. All those characters wash across the palate and leave a warm, woolly, textural finish. 100% cabernet franc isn’t the … Read More