2013 Craggy Range Sophia Gimblett Gravels Hawkes Bay

This is a Bordeaux-style blend with 62% merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. Yield 48 hl/ha, inoculated, aged 19 months in French oak, 42% new. 13.8% alcohol. Beautifully perfumed nose of floral red cherries, plums and blackcurrant, with a subtle fine spiciness. The palate has superbly balanced sweet cherries and black fruits. It has presence and concentration but it's also quite understated, with fine-grained tannins and a fresh, dynamic personality. So fine, this has massive potential.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2013 Sophia Proprietary Red is intensely scented of crushed blackberries and blackcurrants with hints of cloves, cedar and violets plus a touch of pencil shavings. Medium-bodied and laden with muscular fruit, it has a solid backbone of grainy tannins and tons of vivacity in the long, multi-layered finish.

Mørk og modent udtryk med modne kirsebær. Solbær og let sødmefuldt, krydret fadpræg. Der er tydelige referencer til Bordeaux. Jordbæris i smagen. Ekstremt flot struktur og ikke mindst tanninkvalitet bakket op af nydeligt fadarbejde. Lang harmonisk afslutning og eftersmag. Stor bordeauxinspireret vin med et fremragende lagringspotentiale.

(13.5% alcohol; 2013 was a great Merlot year, according to winemaker Matt Stafford, who noted that the selection for this bottling is made in October): Bright dark ruby. Deep, slightly medicinal scents of black cherry, black plum and dried herbs. Delivers a lovely blend of density, sweetness and reserve, offering a fine-grained texture and complicating soil tones to the well-delineated flavors of purple fruits and licorice. Finishes with rather noble tannins and sneaky length. The crop level for this bottling is typically between 6 and 8 tons per hectare, according to Stafford. This Bordeaux blend should age gracefully on its intensity and balance. (My second sample showed a much stronger licorice pastille quality on the nose and palate and less early sweetness.)