I was given this bottle by a friend who just passed the Sommelier exams and was traveling to New Zealand on holidays.  Several weeks later, her husband passed his exams as well- congratulations to Christine and Tyler!  On their visit they no doubt did some winery tastings and bottle shop visits.  I looked up some pricing and could only find it in New Zealand- NZ$35, about $30 USD.  A generous gift I must say.

Textbook light purple in the glass with cherries jubilee on the nose and some spice.  On the palate I got a whopping mouth full of tart strawberry, cherry pie and some vanilla.  A rather tannic wine with a rather sharp acidic frame makes for an interesting mouthfeel.  The acidity was nigh on piercing when I first opened the bottle but mellowed out after some air.  The backbone is firm on this young wine and it bodes well for long term cellaring.  I would say 2015-2022 for a decent drinking window.  There was some interesting spice notes of clove and cocoa powder on the mid palate.  The question is what to pair it with when it grows up….  Perhaps some plank grilled salmon and roasted rosemary potatoes, I would even go with roast duck and orange glaze.  89 points and 3 stars from me for this decent effort.  Salut….