Hans Herzog Spirit of Marlborough

Description

Why we love it
A rich, heady Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon – an elegant blockbuster warranting bottle age.

Tasting notes
Deep crimson in colour with a black core. An intense nose of ripe dark fruit – think damson and blackberry. A powerful but balanced palate with juicy acidity and fine tannins tempering the black fruit. Very pure.

Food pairing
Great paired with steak or lamb, or with strong hard cheeses.

Additional information
Prior to fermentation, the grapes underwent a lengthy cold soak to extract flavours and beneficial antioxidants from the skins. This progressed into a long wild-yeast fermentation, followed by extended post-fermentation maceration. After gentle pressing, the young wine was transferred into partly new French barriques where it underwent malolactic fermentation. The minimal oxygen exchange over 30 months of maturation in these barrels gave the wine and oak time to come together to form a rich, complex wine, able to age for many years in the bottle. After bottling, without prior fining or filtration, the wine was kept in the barrel hall for a further 36 months before being released.

The wine consists of equal parts of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.