2018 Ngakirikiri Cabernet Sauvignon

The third vintage of Villa Maria's flagship Cabernet (the others being 2013 and 2014) and the first in its new winery (the vintage's first grapes were picked while contractors were still on site). This has great concentration of fruit while remaining elegant and fresh. While the fruit is ripe with its dark black fruit, licorice and black olives, it still retains a green herbal character as if to remind you that this is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon. The tannins build cumulatively, and while they are resolved, they are very much Cabernet-shaped, creating a square framing the rather delicate core. This is really classy stuff, as it should be at the price. Perhaps not as long-lived as the 2014 will be, but a decade or more in the cellar won't hurt.

90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 2% Malbec aged for 20 months in Fench oak, of which 60% was new. Transparent crimson. Oak and pure fruit mixed, with the oak just a little too dominant. Very gentle tannins on the palate and some real vitality and energy in the fruit – a quality I have not noticed in this selection up to now. This tastes as though a huge amount of effort went into managing those tannins. It's still young, dry and savoury but you could drink it now with the right food. (The Gimblett's back label tells us that that particular wine from Trinity Hill goes particularly well with red-meat dishes; I should imagine this wine would too.) On this wine's back label we are warned that decanting is a good idea as the wine may throw a sediment – a good sign! (JR)