Te Awa / Hawkes Bay / 2016 / Tempranillo Tempranillo
Tempranillo is a variety of grape originating from Spain. The name refers to the Spanish word for early, ‘temprano’. Temranillo is a relatively new variety to Hawkes Bay.
On the nose the wine displays rich dark berry notes with the additional complexity of leather and spice also apparent. The palate is medium bodied with red fruit flavours supported by complex and savoury richness. Firm tannins give this wine impressive length and concentration.
Drinking well upon release this wine could be cellared with confidence for five to ten years.
The Winemaking
The 2016 growing season in Hawke's Bay was cool but dry and the Tempranillo
grapes thrived in the conditions. The grapes were harvested, de-stemmed, and
tipped directly into open top fermenters. After soaking for a few days the must was
allowed to warm up and was inoculated with a selected yeast. The young wine was
then drawn off the skins and aged in a mix of French and American oak barrels.
It was racked once to blend in Spring 2016 and returned to barrels for a further
twelve months of ageing before bottling, a total of 18 months in barrel.
The Vineyard
The Te Awa Tempranillo is sourced from a small 0.8Ha block on our estate
vineyard. The vineyard is located on free draining Gimblett Gravel's soil especially
suited to the growing of high-quality Red wine. Intensive management during the
season resulted in low yielding vines producing high-quality parcels of fruit.