The colour was a medium-deep ruby red. The bouquet showed smokey oak and mushroom and intense, slightly spicy, berry fruit. The taste was very smooth and well integrated, with intense cherry fruit flavours, some savoury wood flavours, and very nice balance. This wine was still fresh and fruity after 4 years (it was sealed with a screw cap). It won gold at the London International Wine Challenge. One of the best wines I have tried, but fairly expensive at around NZ$80 from the winery.
Note 1: I am not really a wine expert (just an enthusiastic amateur), so please don't take my recommendations as anything more than a rough guide to these wines. I can take no responsibility if you buy a lot of this particular wine, on my recommendation, and then regret it!
Note 2: You may not fully agree with my evaluation of these wines, as a lot of this is quite subjective. I tend to put a lot of emphasis on complexity and intense characteristic and varietal flavours and bouquet, so if you disagree you might just have different priorities.
My latest blog post: Think for Yourself: In the end, everything is just an opinion. Be skeptical, and think for yourself! (posted 2026-04-25).
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