Radburnd Cellars Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, 2018 

Grapes: 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon from free-draining sites, matured for 21 months in new and seasoned French oak barriques

Producer Tasting Note:

An elegant Merlot Cabernet blend which exhibits lifted aromatics of fragrant berry fruits, sweet French oak, and underlying lavender and thyme. Complex and textural, seamless tannins harmoniously support red and black fruits, earthiness, and spice. Tautly poised to develop beautifully with bottle age.

Winemaking: Batches of hand harvested fruit were chilled overnight before processing the following day. Chilled bunches were hand sorted and destemmed, and whole berries were transferred to open fermenters with some foot stomping. Whole bunches were also incorporated in some of the Merlot fermenters. The berries were cold soaked before fermentation, with pumping over twice per day then pressed to barriques at the end of fermentation. The Merlot and Cabernet matured for 21 months in new and seasoned French oak barriques. Blended in December 2019 and bottled in January 2020, the final blend is approximately 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Estate: Radburnd Cellars was established in 2017, with the single purpose of Kate making her very best wine from each vintage without compromise - using the best fruit, the best equipment and the best resources. We make a single tier of wines in very limited volumes – representing the best, not the most. We’ve carefully selected vineyards around Hawke’s Bay that are perfect for the wines we make, in the style we love. All vineyards we source fruit from are either Sustainable Wine-growing New Zealand accredited, or organic.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"A lovely balance between the merlot's plum and its velvet softness, the power of the cabernet with a core of blackberry - both combined with scents of some cigar/tobacco and toast notes. On the palate flavours reflect the nose with a seamless transition to texture, firm tannins, ripe tannins and supple moments. Medium+ acidity. A complete wine with some powerful youthful textures and a core of fruit, violets and plums, blackberries and spices. Hand harvested and hand sorted, foot stomped and barrel for 21 months before release. Excellent drinking today - if decanted or best from 2022-2030"

94/100 points, Cameron Douglas MS, October 2020

"Deep ruby-red with some transparency, lighter on edge. The nose has an elegant core and growing in intensity, nuances of red currants, cassis entwined with vanillin, cedar and red earth. Medium-full bodied, nuances of red currants, cassis and cranberries are vibrant, unfolding vanilla, cardamom, cedar, along with red earth mineral. The structure is supported by fine-grained and silky tannin with a fine grip, elegantly presented, lingering with cedar and oak spices; along with a delicate acid tension shows focus and vitality, lends a long sustained finish. This is a stylish Merlot-Cabernet blend with red-fruited characters, complexing cedar and spices along an elegant silky tannin structure line. Match with braised brisket and skirt steak over the next 8+ years. Parcels of Merlot and Cabernet selected from Ngaruroro River and old vines Merlot from Bridge Pa region. Handpicked, hand-sorted, destemmed. Foot stomped in open-top fermenters, some Merlot whole bunches, fermented to 13.5% alc. Aged in new and seasoned barriques for 21 months, final blend approx 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon."

19/20 points, Raymond Chan Wine Reviews (NZ), January 2021

Food Match: Roasted red meats, aged beef fillet medallions served with a red wine jus and creamy polenta, grilled Portobello mushrooms, strong aged cheeses