Seasonal Marlborough Lagrein 2019

A stranger to many, the Lagrein grape is actually a cousin of Syrah and grandchild to Pinot Noir.

Dense ruby in colour, it displays bright Damson plum, wild cherry and liquorice characters. A juicy, round mid-palate is densely packed with fresh boysenberry and dark chocolate flavours.

Hints of tobacco, vanilla and a mineral edge dance around firm acidity and pronounced tannins. Full bodied, but not heavy, Lagrein delivers straight-up, fruit-forward pleasure underneath it’s dark, tough exterior. Try it slightly chilled.

A Single Vineyard site in the Awatere Valley. Marlborough’s driest, coolest, and windiest subregion is also dominated by its river and flood plains. Dramatic river terraces have been carved out, creating free draining sites with alluvial gravels along the banks of the river and clay and sandstone subsoils on the wider river plains.

Harvest Method: Hand-picked Processing: Destemmed and lightly crushed Fermentation: Cold soaked for several days, then inoculated and fermented with cap plunging 3 times per day for gentle extraction of colour and tannin

14 months in French oak barriques (35% New)