CRAGGY RANGE TE KAHU 2019

Te Kahu means The Cloak in Te Reo Maori and refers to the mist that envelops the Craggy Range Giants winery in the Tuki Tuki Valley, Hawkes Bay. Legend has it that this mist was used to protect a mythical Maori maiden from the sun as she visited her lover Te Mata.

Winery notes (2019 Vintage)
"Deepest crimson red. Brooding aromatically with notes of cassis, black olive, dried tobacco and the faintest hint of caramel. The wine has lovely focus on the palate with dark fruits framed by fine tannins to deliver a classical structure with an excellent future ahead."

5 Stars & 95/100 Bob Campbell MW, The Real Review, June 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"A blend of 54% merlot, 27% cabernet sauvignon, 10% malbec, 7% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot. Dense, inky red with cassis, dark berries, cocoa powder, mocha and spicy oak. Excellent value at this price."

Reviews for previous vintages below…

93/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, December 2019 (2017 Vintage)
"Red and black fruits, dried flower, vanilla and cedar perfume, shot with sweet spices. Medium-bodied, fresh but dense in flavour and tannin, boysenberry and tobacco, ash and graphite tannin, savoury in flavour, and earthy on a precise finish. So grown up. So stylish."

DWWA 2019 (2016 Vintage)
"This was a wine which convinced our judges that all the hard work that has gone into Bordeaux varieties (alongside Syrah) in Gimblett Gravels is beginning to pay off. It's a very dark black-red in colour, and the 63% of Merlot sings out in its soft, seductive black-cherry and black-plum fruits. The soft wealth on the palate is very impressive too, without any rigid acidity and backed, in this case, by some discreetly textured but impressively flavoured tannins (a touch of graphite and coal dust). It's sappy and vinous towards the end: real 'pleasure wine', yet never simple. Drink 2019-2025."

4 ½ Stars Michael Cooper (2016 Vintage)
"Estate-grown in the Gimblett Gravels, the classy 2016 vintage of this Hawke's Bay red is Merlot-based (63 per cent), with smaller portions of Cabernet Sauvignon (18 per cent), Cabernet Franc (14 per cent), Petit Verdot (3 per cent) and Malbec (2 per cent). Matured for 10 months in oak barriques (28 per cent new), it has deep, purplish colour. Fragrant, concentrated and youthful, it's a stylish red, with strong blackcurrant, plum and spice flavours, firmly structured and very age-worthy. Best drinking 2020+."