Malbec 2019 6x75cl

• 75cl bottle

Down a dark alleyway the brooding and intense characters of blackberry and liquorice meet the heroically proportioned mass of dark chocolate draped in smooth, fine velvet.

Vineyards

The Left Field Malbec is grown on the Te Awa vineyard located in the Gimblett Gravels.

Vintage

The 2019 harvest was one of the finest on record. Spring was cool and wet and the weather over key flowering periods seemed unkind at the time. Crops were eventually down as much as 25%, but this alone does not explain the quality of the fruit at harvest. Summer was fine and warm with intermittent rain keeping a drought prone province green, the vines seemingly never under any stress. Veraison though had proceeded quickly over a fine spell of weather which would give consistency to the ripeness of berries. Harvest arrived slightly early but no records were broken here. In fact it seemed very much a normal harvest until we approached our first pick. The berries though had developed abnormally thick skins blessed with an abundance of colour and flavour. This coupled with a spell of fine weather over harvest period, allowed us to pick when full ripeness had been achieved. Both whites and reds have excelled.

Winemaking

Straight Malbec is a rarity from New Zealand. The Leftfield Malbec is a lighter style, with loads of fresh fruit flavours and Christmas cake spice. Once harvested, the fruit undergoes fermentation in open-top vats before the young wine is sent to French and American oak barrels (~15% new) to hang out for 10 months before blending and bottling.

Enjoy with:

• Grilled and Roasted Red Meats
• Pizza/Pasta
• Casseroles/Stews
• Mature Strong Cheeses

Imbibe on its own or devour with a rare cut of beef.