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All Wine  >  Tantalus Estate Reserve

Évoque

Merlot / Malbec / Cabernets
Waiheke Island, New Zealand

Vintages:

2014

Price: $90 per bottle

Winemaking

Fermented in stainless steel open-top fermenters, with indigenous and selected yeasts. Extended maceration for extraction. Punched down up to 4 times per day. Gentle basket pressing and transferred into mostly new French oak for 12 months months maturation. 4 rackings during élevage. No fining.

Food pairing:

Scotch fillet with pan jus, Confit duck legs, Truffle oil pasta and mushrooms, Braised short ribs, Hard cheese

Vintage report

Warm and dry conditions in early spring gave a healthy fruit-set. Late December rains replenished much needed moisture and were followed by a period of sunny dry weather. The 2014 growing season delivered 19% below average rainfall, allowing selective harvests at optimum ripeness and delivering wines with complexity and depth of flavour.

Technical analysis:

Region: Waiheke Island
Grapes: Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
Harvest: 100% hand harvest
Dates: 2nd April - 24th April 2014
Brix: 23.5-25
Production: 35hl/ha. Single vineyard
Alcohol: 14%
Residual Sugar: <1g/l
pH: 3.57
TA: 6.3g/l
Download technical sheet

Awards:

Bob Campbell: 5 Stars - 96 Points
Raymond Chan: 5 Stars - 18.5/20
Sam Kim: 5 Stars - 93 Points
Robert Parkers Wine Advocate: 90 points
Michael Cooper: 4.5 Stars
London IWC: Silver

2015

Price: $140 per bottle

Winemaking

Fermented in stainless steel open-top fermenters, with indigenous and selected yeasts. Extended maceration for extraction. Punched down up to 4 times per day. Gentle basket pressing and transferred into mostly new French oak for 12 months months maturation. 4 rackings during élevage. No fining.

Food pairing:

Scotch fillet with pan jus, Confit duck legs, Truffle oil pasta and mushrooms, Braised short ribs, Hard cheese

Vintage report

A wet winter gave way to a calm, dry spring and resultant great fruit-set. This enabled us to scupt the vines to our design, every bunch manicured swinging freely in its own bit of premium real estate.

Temperatures started off a bit cool but by December were well above average. January was one of the hottest and driest on record with 25 days above 30C and only 12mm of rain for the month. This set the scene for small berries with great concentration. February saw these extremes return to more normal levels with the warm dry conditions continuing through the all important ripening period becoming more autumn like around the 10th April. The resulting wines are as expected, very ripe, deeply concentrated and exquisitely balanced.

Technical analysis:

Alcohol: 14%
Residual Sugar: <1g/l
pH: 3.43
TA: 6.9g/l
Download technical sheet

Awards:

Robert Parkers Wine Advocate: 2015
London IWC: Bronze Medal
Cameron Douglas: 93 points
Michael Cooper 2018: 5 star
Decanter Asia wine awards: Silver 90 points
Raymond Chan: 5 stars (18.5+/20)

2016

Price: $95 per bottle

Winemaking

Fermented in stainless steel open-top fermenters, with indigenous and selected yeasts. Extended maceration for extraction. Punched down up to 4 times per day. Air pulses. Gentle basket pressing and transferred into mostly new French oak for 12 months months maturation. 4 rackings during élevage. No fining.

Food pairing:

Scotch fillet with pan jus, Confit duck legs, Truffle oil pasta and mushrooms, Braised short ribs, Hard cheese

Vintage report

A dry winter made pruning enjoyable and as such we were finished in record time. Late August brought with it a wet spell which replenished ground moisture prior to the season. Budburst was nearly 2 weeks ahead of normal.

A settled spring brought with it a good fruit set, the odd Southwesterly kept the crop loads in check. Dry warm weather through to mid January set us up with some very healthy fruit. The season did a bit of an about face in February and turned wetter and cooler than we are used to.

The majority of the work had already been done as we guided the crop to harvest by strategically hanging out individual parcels to gain optimum ripeness. The resultant wines are rich and plush with great presence and length.

Technical analysis:

Region: Waiheke Island
Grapes: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec
Harvest: 100% hand harvest
Brix: 22.3-24
Production: 35hl/ha. Single vineyard
Alcohol: 13.5%
Residual Sugar: <1g/
pH: 3.51
TA: 6.5g/l
Download technical sheet

Awards:

Bob Campbell : 95 Points
Raymond Chan: 95 Points
Sam Kim: 95 Points

2017

Price: $95 per bottle

Winemaking

Fermented in stainless steel open-top fermenters with indigenous and selected yeasts. Punched down and air-pulsed up to four times per day, followed by an extended maceration. Gently basket pressed and transferred into mostly new French oak for twelve months maturation. Three rackings during élevage. No fining

Food pairing:

Roast quail with brown butter and cherry mostarda, wild mushroom tart, filet mignon with sauce Bordelaise, Havarti and Fontina cheeses.

Vintage report

An early spring with warmer than average temperatures brought us a very even bud burst and good fruit set. A series of northerly storms brought above average rainfall and high humidity, creating plenty of challenges in the vineyards, however the overall heat summation was well above our yearly average providing ripe and concentrated fruit.

Technical analysis:

Region: Waiheke Island
Grapes: Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
Alcohol: 13%
Residual Sugar: <1g/l
pH: 3.59
TA: 6.6g/l
Download technical sheet