94+ points - "A classic and enticing bouquet of dark cherry and baking spices, layers of spicy plum and baking spice, rose and flinty soil suggestions. As the wine opens out the complexity builds with an expansion of fruit and mineral scents framed by oak. A dry wine touches the palate framed by textures of tannin and acidity then core fruit flavours that mirror the bouquet. A lovely example, well made and lengthy with best drinking from 2027 through 2037. Excellent." - Cameron Douglas MS (camdouglasms.com)

92 points - "A pure sweet nose of cherry and strawberry with subtle woody and spice inflections. The palate is notably firmer, as grainy, stalky tannins grip early towards the front, turning to cocoa and cassia as it goes on. Despite these evident secondary characters, the wine is clearly built on its core of mouth-coating, sweet fruit. Lovely fruit concentration of good length, wrapped in sweet oak and a firm coating of structure which will see it develop savoury complexity over the coming decade." - Stephen Wong MW (The Real Review)

GROWING SEASON
A mild winter and spring provided ideal conditions at budburst and for flowering into December. No real wind or frost events allowed for excellent vine health and growth, with the strongest canopy we’d seen for years. The season was shaping up to be warmer than average, with expectations of an earlier start date to harvest, however the heat dropped off and a timely rainfall in the beginning of February returned us to our historical mean start date. During harvest we enjoyed extremely settled weather providing a wonderful picking window to bring in clean fruit of exceptional quality across the estate.

VINEYARD
Grown across the Estate with vines planted in the Waenga silty loam soils of our lower terraces and the more gravelly Lochar sandy loams of the blocks beside the winery.
Certified Organic since 2021.

WINEMAKING
Hand-harvested fruit was ambient-soaked for four to five days before fermentation began. Gentle, selective timing of hand-plunging and pump overs during fermentation helped to extract the delicate skin and seed tannins. Approximately 15% whole-bunch clusters were included in some of the ferments. After fermentation we tasted the wines frequently to assess the tannin development prior to transfer to barrel where maturation took place for 15 months in French oak.
Vegan friendly.

TASTING NOTES
Highly aromatic with bright cherry and redcurrant, lifted red fruits coupled with savoury spice and dried herb offer an alluring and enticing nose. The palate is elegant and refined with fruit intensity matched with a supple and silky tannin structure.