Winemaker Notes
Deepest crimson red. Brooding aromatically with notes of cassis, black olive, dried tobacco and the faintest hint of caramel. The wine has a lovely focus on the palate with dark fruits framed by fine tannins to deliver a classical structure with an excellent future ahead.
Pairs well with red meat dishes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Attractively fresh plums and blueberries here with ripe plums, too. The palate has soft, supple and creamy texture with an elegantly silky tannin texture. Great depth and freshness. The oak is nicely played. A blend of 66% merlot, 21% cabernet sauvignon and 13% cabernet franc. Drink or hold. Screw cap.
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Decanter
From a challenging but potentially great vintage, this is still pretty youthful but shows lots of promise. It boasts bright red fruits on the nose and paiate. with some waxy oak character showing through. The acidity is a little dominant now. but give this a year or two and it will be a delicious, warming and inviting wine.
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Wine & Spirits
A bright, fresh take on merlot (60 percent of the blend, along with cabernets franc and sauvignon), this is a sleek red with juicy mulberry and herbal-tobacco flavors. There’s an allspice note to the tannins that lasts, for game birds roasted with Middle Eastern spice. Best Buy
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Te Kahu Gimblett Gravels Vineyard is 66% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, a bit more Merlot and Franc than the 2016 and dropping Malbec and Petit Verdot entirely. Aged in only 20% new oak, it features gentle cedar and vanilla hints accenting notes of tobacco and black cherries on the nose, followed by a ripe, medium-bodied feel on the palate. It's silky-smooth and immediately approachable yet with enough concentration to hold for at least 5-7 years.
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.