"This is a bit of a small but important wine in the Auckland wine scene. A really concentrated wine with hints of blackened vanilla bean and clove spices but really at the heart of this wine is the plump blackcurrants, black plums and dried red currants. Very Bordeaux-like on the palate with fine but firm tannins on the palate with a hint of cedar oak."
Gillman Wines
Winemaker Toby Gillman discovered his passion for wine many years ago as a student, while pitching in voluntarily at a vineyard. In fact, he spent his first student allowance on a bottle of Matakana wine.
Toby soon fell in love with the idea of making wine himself. He and his father John volunteered their labour at New Zealand’s iconic Providence vineyard. For the next decade, they spent their weekends receiving practical experience by day and educating their palates by night, when the winemaker would repay their labour with excellent dinners and bottles of wine from his cellar of rare French wines.
Bordeaux Red Blend
This is the most famous red blend of them all: Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Just like in Bordeaux, where this blend originates from, you will almost always see Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot in the blend, too. Each grape brings its own special element to the overall wine be it acid, tannin, colour or aromatics.