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Buy OnlineWinery notes (2016 Vintage)
"The Patriarch is our flagship red wine, grown on our Gimblett Gravels ‘Irongate’ vineyard in Hawke’s Bay and made in honour of the company founder and New Zealand wine industry pioneer, Josip Babich. With this wine we allow ourselves complete flexibility in order to make the best we can – we are not committed to a particular variety or blend and crop levels are very restricted.
Darkly perfumed with layers of spice, cassis and plum. Also a touch of cedar. Full, round and dense with deceptive concentration. Dark chocolate, blueberry and cinnamon and a little cigar box too. An elegant and powerful wine with a delightful transparency."
5 Stars Michael Cooper (2016 Vintage)
"The 2016 vintage is a boldly coloured blend of Merlot (40 per cent), Malbec (33 per cent) and Cabernet Sauvignon (27 per cent), matured for 16 months in French oak barriques. A powerful young wine, it is sturdy, with concentrated, ripe berry, plum and spice flavours, finely integrated oak, good tannin backbone and obvious potential. Retasted in April 2019, it is still very fresh and youthful; open 2022+."
96/00 Huon Hooke, The Real Review (2016 Vintage)
"Deep, youthful red/purple colour. The bouquet is nutty, spicy, vanillan, with oak nicely melded into the fruit. The wine is elegantly full-bodied, finely-structured and subtly powerful. There's masses of tannin and lots of extract. Touches of cassis and herbs. The tannins dominate the back-palate finish. An impressive wine which demands time."
93/100 Rebecca Gibb MW, Decanter, February 2019 (2016 Vintage)
"A mid-weight, elegant style with the right amount of flesh filling its frame. There's no shortage of freshness either, providing a precise conclusion in combination with abundant mouth-coating tannins. Expect black cherry, violets and festive spices, providing fragrance on the medium-length finish."
93/100 & Cellar Selection, Christina Pickard, Wine Enthusiast (2016 Vintage)
"This Bordeaux blend is Merlot dominant (40%) with 33% Malbec and 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, which results in a wine with lifted fruit and elegance amid power and density. The nose leads with aromas of black cherry, chocolate, cracked pepper and pencil lead. The palate is full bodied, balanced by juicy fruit and a firmly structured line of savoury tannins. The oak influence shows but is well integrated, supporting rather than overpowering. A long herbal finish caps things off. A classy wine that should age beautifully until 2029 and likely beyond."
