Alwyn Reserve Merlot Cabernet Hawke's Bay New Zealand Wine,New Zealand Ngatarawa Alwyn price supplier

Philosophy

 

The Alwyn brand is the epitome of winemaking at Ngatarawa. It is the Winemaker’s Reserve range, named after the winery’s founding winemaker, Alwyn Corban. The wines are only produced in exceptional vintages and even then only in small volumes. They are the winemaker’s expression of his craft, his aspiration for quality and style.

 

Vineyard Notes

 

Our best grapes – 60% from the Triangle and 40% from the Gravels - identified for their consistently high quality over a number of years, were selected to produce this Merlot Cabernet blend. The vines were cane pruned, trained on a 2 cane VSP trellis and leaf plucked by hand to give maximum sun exposure and ventilation to the bunches. The crop

was thinned to yield around 2.5 tonnes per acre. 

 

The 2009 season started cool and then developed into a hot summer followed by a warm, dry harvest period.

 

Winemaking

 

The grapes were harvested by hand and fermented in 6 separate batches. Each was inoculated with selected yeast to ensure a hot fermentation. The wines were macerated 1-2 weeks post fermentation before pressing to barrel. Malolactic fermentation took place in barrel.

 

The 6 batches were separately matured in 225 litre French oak barriques (37% new, 37% 1 year old, 26% older) for 12 months before blending.

 

Tasting Notes

 

Colour: Dark plum with garnet edge.

 

Bouquet: Berryish nose with dark cherry, plum and integrated vanillin oak.

 

Palate: Rich and concentrated. Dark plum, cigar box and berries with a long, sweet fruit cake spice finish.

 

Food Match: May be enjoyed with all red meat dishes.

 

Cellaring:  May be enjoyed now or cellared up to 7 years from vintage date.

 

Technical Analysis at Bottling

 

Vintage:  2009

pH: 3.68

TA:  5.1g/l

Alcohol: 13.5%

Residual Sugar:  <1 g/l

Blend: Merlot 76%, Cabernet Sauvignon 24%