Merlot and blends from Hawkes Bay can be raw and assertive when young. They need time to mellow and integrate in the bottle but if you are impatient, glugging them from the bottle into a jug and back again will help aerate and soften them a bit.
BEST VALUE
$25
Four stars (out of five)
Good value
An attractive, densely flavoured wine, spicy, with dark ripe blackcurrants and plums, hints of mint, savoury, oaky undertones, a silky texture and nicely balanced, fresh tannins.
millsreef.co.nz
$20
Three and a half stars
Good value
Hints of plums and mineral, suggestions of dark berries and chocolate supported by spicy oak, concentrated flavours and firm, almost grippy tannins with juicy fruit on the aftertaste.
churchroad.co.nz
$27
Four stars
Good value
At three years old, this is definitely showing the mellowed benefits of bottle age. Dark, concentrated fruit, spicy plums, suggestions of dark chocolate, mint and oak, this a powerful wine with nicely integrated firm, fine-grained tannins and a long finish. It will continue to develop for three or four years.
churchroad.co.nz
$18
Three stars
Average value
A youthful wine that benefits from exposure to air, this oozes raw plums and blackcurrants, with dense flavours and firm, edgy tannins.
villamaria.co.nz
$14
Three stars
Good value
A fresh, youthful wine with suggestions of soft stewed plums and a crisp, slightly astringent finish.
thornbury.co.nz
$50
Four stars
Average value
Dense, deep and concentrated, this is big and complex. When first opened it was almost painful in its power, but the following day the softness of the fruit and complex nuances of ginger, mineral and supporting oak were starting to show. It will amply repay three or five years in a good cellar.
villamaria.co.nz
ANOTHER GLASS:
Black Ridge Central Otago Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
$25
Three and a half stars
Average value
Perfumed with attractive fruits _ raspberry,redcurrants and ripe plums this is a fresh, lively wine, lighter in the mouth than some of the Hawkes Bay ones, with supple tannins on the finish.
