Hi,

Happy New Year! It has been a great New Year.

Drank a bottle of nice Cabernet-Merlot from Villa Maria last week. It is a 2002 Reserve Villa Maria Cabernet Merlot. It is really nothing like a New Zealand Cab at all. Strong blackberry, floral cassis and cedar vanilla on the nose which follow through with the taste, only better. the intense flavours of blackberry intermingled with the melange of rich vanilla and earth and mocha makes the wine luscious and simply delicious. If I were to do a blind tasting, I would have rate it as a very good Australia Cab.

It is so unbelievable and I have my friend Brian to thank for that. He brought it back all the way from NZ and resisted the temptation to uncork it before we met. He bought it at NZ$59 but we all know that it probably will cost a lot more if it get here at all. So far I have not seen this wine in the market but I bet someone will bring in soon. With the high quality taste and the on going good reputation of NZ wine, I estimated that the price will be around $100 - $150 in retail.

That is why I am so grateful to my friend Brian.

Anyway, if anyone offer this wine to you, remember to savour it slowly and enjoy every drop.

I have the technical details in the following.

Cheers,

Sam

Villa Maria Reserve Hawkes Bay Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot 2002

Bottle Size: 750ml Variety: CabSav/ Mer/Mal Vintage: 2002 Region: Hawke's Bay Vineyard: Various Country: New Zealand Alcohol: 14.5% pH: 3.55 Total Acidity: 6.30g/L Residual Sugar: Nil Sweetness Indicator: Dry Cellaring Potential: 2010 to 2012 Serving Temperature: Room Temperature

Viticulture
The 2002 season in Hawke’s Bay was terrific for ripening Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot varieties. A long warm autumn period ensured clean and healthy fruit with ripe flavours and tannins. This vintage will be remembered as a classic year producing bumper yields and outstanding quality.

Vineyards
Fruit for this wine was sourced across Villa Maria’s three Gimblett Gravel vineyards, Ngakirikiri (60%), Twyford Gravels (30%) and Omahu Gravels (10%). Each of these vineyards produce slightly different styled wines, providing for an array of blending options. Villa Maria manages these vineyards to precise crop levels (2-2.5kgs per vine), and employs assiduous viticultural management activities, namely, leaf plucking around the bunch zone, timely trimmings of the canopy and irrigation practices to ensure ripe, clean and intensely flavoured fruit.

Winemaking
Hand harvested into small picking crates the fruit was carefully transported to Villa Maria’s premium winery in Auckland for processing. Each fruit parcel was individually fermented in open top fermenters. Traditional hand-plunging techniques were employed to ensure the optimal extraction of colour, tannin and flavour. After the fermenters were pressed and malolactic fermentation concluded, the wines were racked to oak barriques for maturation. After 18 months in new French and American barriques the wines were selectively blended, stabilised and bottled with minimal filtration. The bottled wine was then matured for a further 12 months before being released.

Winemaker's Comments
Deeply coloured this perfumed wine is rich with blackberry, plum, black-olives and floral violet aromas. On the palate the wine is richly concentrated and balanced with a ripe and chewy textured tannin structure. This wine will mature well over the coming years (March 2005).

Food Match
Matches well with intense and highly textured red meat, particularly beef and kangaroo. Also is an ideal accompaniment to richly flavoured cheeses.