Kia Ora Sept Issue

Culture Wine
1——
VILLA MARIA
2010 Reserve Library
Release Cabernet
Sauvignon, Hawkes
Bay, $69.99
This seven-year-old
cabernet sauvignon has
been carefully cellared at
Villa Maria and released
after the tannins have begun
to mellow and savoury
bottle-age characters have
emerged. It’s a special
occasion wine that certainly
justifies its premium price.
Try it with lamb shanks.
BOB CAMPBELL
Mr Big
Lovingly age your cabernet
sauvignon, but if you can’t
wait, whip off the screw cap
straight away and enjoy it
with roast lamb.
CABERNET SAUVIGNON CAN make you
seem like a viticulture expert. The grapevine
has distinctive leaves that overlap
themselves giving the appearance of holes.
So, if you are being escorted through a
vineyard and spot these leaves, casually
remark, “I see those are cabernet sauvignon
vines” and impress your guide.
Cabernet sauvignon is the “Mr Big” of the
wine world. It is a grape with thick skin that
stores colour, flavour and tannins. The wine
typically has a deep colour, plenty of flavour
and is quite “grippy” or astringent.
Tannins (which give the wine grip) are
nature’s preservative. Red wines with more
tannin, such as cabernet sauvignon, can
be aged for longer than softer, lowertannin
reds such as pinot noir. If, for
example, you want to buy a wine for
a newborn and would like it to be
delicious for their 21st birthday, cabernet
sauvignon is a good choice. I’d choose one
with a screw cap. In my experience these
can more than double the life of a wine and
cope with imperfect storage conditions
better than corks.
Cabernet sauvignon is believed to have
originated in Bordeaux, the region many
(including me) believe produces the
world’s best examples, although these are
almost always blended with the other red
grape varieties – merlot, cabernet franc,
malbec and petit verdot.
In New Zealand, cabernet sauvignon
is often the last red harvested. It’s also a
survivor, thanks to that thick skin which
helps it resist disease.
Records show the variety was
established in New Zealand in 1903, but
it was almost certainly here before then.
Winemaking pioneer Tom McDonald put
the variety on the map with his stylish
Hawke’s Bay-grown wines in the 60s and
70s. Today cabernet sauvignon rarely flies
solo and is often partnered with merlot
and other Bordeaux varieties to help tame
its sometimes exuberant astringency.
Hawke’s Bay and Waiheke Island are our
“sweet spots”. It’s no coincidence that their
climates are similar to that of Bordeaux.
To get the best out of cabernet
sauvignon (or cabernet sauvignon/merlot
blends) I recommend you either age
them in a cool, dark spot for a decade
or more, or enjoy them with their
soulmate, roast lamb.
3——
MILLS REEF
2015 Elspeth Cabernet
Sauvignon, Hawkes
Bay, $49.95
Find a cool, dark spot
for this supremely
elegant red and it
should still be deliciously
drinkable in a couple of
decades. Fine-boned
cabernet sauvignon with
blackberry/cassis, cigar
box and very subtle fresh
herb flavours.
2——
STONECROFT
2015 Gimblett Gravels
Cabernet Sauvignon,
Hawke’s Bay, $47
A youthful cabernet
sauvignon that’s begging
to be lovingly aged for
at least five years.
Alternatively, you
can fire up the barbecue
and cook a butterflied
leg of lamb, my favourite
match for young
cabernet sauvignon.
122 Kia Ora