Te Awanga Merlot Cabernet Franc

Premium grapes were first grown in Te Awanga at the beginning of last century. The warm coastal climate, gentle sea breezes and the shallow clay soils combine to produce award winning wines of great varietal flavour and finesse.  The mix of clay, alluvial silts, volcanic ash and gravels make this in interesting and potentially high quality site. We believe Merlot is particularly well suited to this vineyard and results over the last two decades have proven this to be the case.  Fruit was destemmed and crushed to open and closed fermenters where the must was fermented hot to maximise extraction of tannin, colour and flavour. The fermenting juice was on skins for an average of just under four weeks. This allowed for the full build of tannin and mouth feel before the wine was pressed and run to barrel where it was aged for 18 months in new and used French oak.