Pegasus Bay Merlot Cabernet 2019

It is deep purple in colour. The nose reveals an intoxicating patchwork of both sweet and savoury aromas, with hints of liquorice, chocolate, black cherry, vanilla and spice. On the palate it is rich and mouth-filling, with fine grained silky tannins. There is satisfying body, however the Merlot component ensures the wine remains smooth and succulent, with generous fruit weight. While ready to drink now, it will evolve gracefully in the bottle for many years to come.

The vineyard is located within the Waipara Valley of North Canterbury, on free draining, north facing terraces. It benefits from being in the lee of the Teviotdale Range, giving maximum protection from the Pacific’s easterly breezes and thus creating a unique mesoclimate. The vines are over 30 years old, with a large proportion planted on their own roots. The soil is free draining and of low fertility, resulting in naturally reduced vine vigour. This produces low yields of optimally ripened, high quality, flavourful grapes, which fully express the qualities of this unique terroir. The vineyard has warm days, but the nights are amongst the coolest in the Waipara Valley, drawing out the ripening period of the grapes, while still retaining good natural acidity.

This wine is made in the same style as the celebrated Claret from Bordeaux, using traditional methods. After being picked in April, the grapes began fermentation naturally in stainless steel tanks. During this process the juice was regularly drained and sprayed back over the cap of floating grape skins (rather than plunging), to ensure a perfect tannin balance was extracted from the fruit. The wine was then gently pressed off and put into French oak barriques (25% new). The following summer, when the weather warmed, it underwent a natural malo-lactic (secondary) fermentation. After maturing in oak for 18 months, the various batches were then carefully blended to produce the best wine possible.

24 months in French oak