Winemaker Notes
"Te Kahu" means "the cloak" in New Zealand's native Maori language. It symbolizes the mist which rolls down and covers the valley next to Craggy Range's Giants Winery in Hawkes Bay.
Opaque garnet core with youthful crimsom hues. Aromas of ripe plum and fruit cake characters neatly meshed with sandalwood and spicy cinnamon overtones. The overall aromatic impression is one of brooding complexity. Fine layers of mouth filling tannin provide the texture and structure to support ample fruit flesh. Natural acidity completes this seamless integration, resulting in wine with uncommon length and power
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Te Kahu Proprietary Red, a Bordeaux blend matured in new French barriques, has a deep dark chocolate-scented nose with dark cherry, Doris plum, cedar and a touch of freshly rolled tobacco. Good definition. The palate is full-bodied with firm tannins, great depth, a little furry at the moment with mouth-coating black fruits. Smooth and focused, primal and sensuous on the finish with a slight bitter cherry edge. Broody but it draws you in.
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Wine Enthusiast
The winemaking at Craggy is becoming less intruisve, and the result in this Merlot-predominant blend is a supple wine blessed with ample cassis fruit and framed by hints of brown sugar, vanilla and dried herbs. It's medium-bodied in the mouth, with a silks finish. Drink now-2013
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An eclectic region on the east coast of the North Island, Hawkes Bay extends from wide, fertile, coastal plains, inland, to the coast range, whose peaks reach as high as 5,300 feet. While the flatter areas were historically more popular because they are easier to cultivate, their alluvial soils can be too fertile for vines. In the late 20th century, the drive for quality led growers to the hills where soils are free-draining, limestone-rich and more suited to producing high quality wines.
Over the passing of time, the old Ngaruroro River laid down deep, gravelly beds, which were subsequently exposed after a huge flood in the 1860’s. In the 1980s growers identified this stretch, which continues for approximately 800 ha, and named it the Gimblett Gravels. The zone has proven to be ideal for the production of excellent red wines, particularly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
Today the area takes well-earned recognition for its Bordeaux blends and other reds. Expressive of intense stewed red and black berry with gentle herbaceous characters, Gimblett Gravels wines are suggestive of their cool climate origin, and on par with other top-notch Bordeaux blends around the globe.
Chardonnay is the top white grape in Hawkes Bay, making elegant wines, strong in stone fruit character. Sauvignon blanc comes in close behind, notable for its tropical, fruit forward qualities.