Juicy smooth blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec in a bold and powerful red made by Hawke's Bay winemaker Jenny Dobson, whose extensive winemaking experience in Bordeaux and Hawke's Bay shines through in this fleshy flavoursome wine. 

Doris was named after her grandmother, Doris and this is the first vintage of this medium bodied, dry and fleshy wine, which has flavours of red plum, red fruit and lightly toasted spice. 

Commercial description

A Tantalus is a small wooden cabinet that contains two or three decanters of precious wine, for which there is a lock and key.  The Tantalus prevents unauthorised people from opening the cabinet and drinking its contents, while allowing the bottles? beauty to be on display. With a key to the Tantalus wines, one obtains access to the secrets of the treasures held within. All of the Tantalus reserve wines have names referring to the origins of Tantalus... An Ecluse allows boats to pass through bodies of water at differing levels. Unlock the Ecluse and let your glass take you on the most amazing journey.

Made up of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Malbec, the Ecluse pours a deep garnet with a bright carmine ring. This Cabernet blend elegantly displays pure fruit notes of wild berries and black plum. A hint of pennyroyal underpinned by aromas of violets, cedar, sweet tobacco and saddle leather support the fine grain tannins, slowly unlocking the secrets within, this wine displays tremendous structure and sustained length.

A fantastic wine, that elevates slow roasted lamb shoulder with fresh mint topping, Flank steak and tamarind stir-fry, Porcini mushroom risotto, Old fashioned beef stew, Grilled rib steak on vine shoots barbecue

Winery's notes...

A stylish Hawke's Bay blend that has chartered our way, a wine with a strong character and a strong following. Blended from the best blocks from our estate, we use a variety of clones, each block fermented then matured in oak barrels as stand alone parcels. After 12 months initial maturation, each barrel was tasted and scored with only the best making the cut for The Navigator. Softly concentrated with deep and dense aromas of plush red fruits, cocoa, spice and cedar, the palate is medium-full bodied with rich and succulent flavours. 

The long finish and fine tannins make this an ideal accompaniment for your beef dishes, richly flavoured foods and cheeses. 

Merlot 34%, Cabernet Sauvignon 31%, Cabernet Franc 19%, Malbec 16%

Alpha Domus winery was founded in 1989 and its name is an anagram of the owners' names, Anthonius, Leonard, Paulus and Henrikus. Domus is Latin for home. 

They named this soft, chocolatey and plush Merlot after the classic 1932 Fox Moth aircraft, which helped open the world up to travel and adventure. This dry, smooth and full bodied red also opens up new worlds of flavour and shows why Merlot is the most planted red grape in Hawke's Bay - it works a treat there. 

Winemaker's note:

"2015 was an exceptional vintage and the weather was consistent which allowed us to grow and ripen grapes to optimum quality. This blend is made of 72% Merlot, 20% Malbec and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon from grapes hand-picked off our Gimblett Vineyard (58%) and Triangle Vineyard (42%). 

After fermentation the wine was aged for 24 months in French oak (42% new), then blended and had a further 3 months on lees in tank. There was no racking which allow the wine to have great volume and weight.

This is a concentrated, medium to full bodied blend. With ripe blackberry and plum characters, fine grained tannins and a fresh acidity all giving the wine a wonderful balance. It will age well and improve for 10 years from vintage."

This is a wine that punches way above it'w weight. It's made by Hawke’s Bay Wine Co's Sophie Harris, with fruit from vineyards in Te Awanga and the Gimblett Gravels. These two sites complement each other beautifully with the cooler coastal Te Awanga offering keen acidity and floral to balance the riper flavours off the gravels.

Rich ripe and succulent, offering dark red and black fruits, superb acidity and real length.

Merlot, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon combine in this outstanding full bodied dry and powerful blend, which is made from hand picked grapes grown in the Gimblett Gravels Winegrowing District’s Cornerstone and Ngakirikiri vineyards. 

The grapes were fermented with wild yeasts, which provides diverse depth and flavours to the wine, which has flavour notes of black olives, dried herbs and black currant notes. The wine was aged in French oak for 20 months and bottled unfiltered, which accentuates its gritty, smooth, powerful cedar notes.

Here is a wine for the long term cellar... Or decant and enjoy now.

Pegasus Bay has an excitingly diverse, if sometimes surprising, array of different grapes growing in its vineyards in the Waipara Valley, the heart of North Canterbury, many of which were planted to see what would fit. And thanks to the long dry autumn growing season, quite a number of different grapes can ripen fully here. This enables varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Franc and even Cabernet Sauvignon to ripen and produce wines such as this full bodied, juicy, age worthy red. If climate change continues, who knows what we will see coming from this stellar, family owned wine producer.

This wine drinks well now and can age and improve for the next five to seven years. 

Approachably priced, medium bodied blend of Bordeaux grape varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which delivers a dry, fruit forward experience. Good value for money.

Te Mata Estate is the oldest winery building in New Zealand and one of the oldest wineries in Hawke's Bay. It's a family owned and run business with two long terms winemakers, Phil Brodie and Peter Cowley (now retired and a partner in the company's Bullnose Vineyard - home to Syrah).