Esk Valley Heipipi The Terraces Hawkes Bay Malbec Merlot Cabernet Franc 2015 750ml

96 POINTS: Bob Campbell MW
95 POINTS: James Suckling’s Top 100 NZ wines of 2018

Esk Valley is a benchmark of elegant, quality-focused Hawkes Bay wines and the ‘Terraces’ Bordeaux Blend is a towering classic of New Zealand red wine.

This top Bordeaux blend of Malbec, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc comes from old vines grown on the steep, terraced, north-facing hillside flanking the Esk Valley winery in Hawke's Bay.  The steep limestone terraces face the sun for warm long-ripening with a sea-side micro-climate that gives this top expression a balance, elegance and finesse that is almost unmatched.   Through careful viticultural techniques, all 3 varieties are harvested on the same day and fermented as a field blend.

This is a strikingly bold, dark wine with a bottomless depth of blackcurrant, plum and strongly spicy flavour.   Malbec (43% of the vines) and Merlot (35% of the vines) are typically the major components, supplemented by Cabernet Franc.   The Malbec gives 'perfume, spice, tannin and brilliant colour'.  Yields in the 1-hectare vineyard are very low, and the wine is matured for 17 to 22 months in mostly new French oak barriques.  It matures well, developing a beautiful fragrance and spicy, Rhône-like complexity.  One to collect in the cellar!

FOOD MATCH - An ideal accompaniment to meat and game dishes.

Alc: 14.5% 

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