Malbec Gimblett Gravels

Winemaker

Daniel Brennan

Appellation

Gimblett Gravels

Varieties

Malbec

Viticulture

Hawke’s Bay lies on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The region enjoys dry summers with moderate, cool nights. This wine reflects a single vineyard Malbec which was grown on the famous Gimblett Gravels™ appellation. The Gimblett Gravels™ is demarked by specific soils laid bare from the constantly shifting Ngaruroro River over millions of years. The river’s last shift in 1867 left these amazing rocky soils, which combined with the slightly inland Heretaunga Plains’ weather, and classic viticulture techniques created a uniquely expressive Malbec. This wine comes from a 100% sustainably certified vineyard that was one of the earlier plantings in the Gimblett Gravels™ in the 1990s.

Terroir

River stones, sand, silt

Ratings & Reviews

Vineyard

Various vineyard sites throughout Hawke's Bay - Gimblett Gavels, Crownthorpe, Bridge Pa District - and Martinborough

Vinification

Hand-picked in late April and transported in whole bunches from the vineyard to the close-by winery in small baskets. The fruit was then destemmed and only lightly crushed to allow the skins to slowly breakdown during the fermentation. The fruit was then cold macerated for 5 days on skins before slowly warming each of the 2 tonne fermenters and allowing a wild fermentation to kick in. Fermentation lasted 16 days before the wine was then macerated on skins again for an additional 14 days. The wine was then pressed to tank before moving to barrel aging.

Aging

The wine was aged for 12 months in oak - 50% 1, 2 and 3 year old French puncheons (500 litre barrels) and 50% into neutral oak barriques.

Features

Screw cap, Vegan

Available Sizes (L)

0.750