SAINT CLAIR PIONEER BLOCK 30 TABLE TOP CABERNET FRANC 2020

Winery notes (2020 Vintage)
"Named after the table top motocross jump adjacent to the vineyard and also to acknowledge the ‘table top’ at home being the perfect place for this bottle. 

Aromatic with blackcurrant, cinnamon and chocolate notes. A concentrated fruit driven palate showing flavours of black and red currant, with spicy notes of cinnamon and a hint of cedar. Full and round with a cocoa powder like tannin structure and savoury oak on the finish.

The outstanding fruit was sourced predominantly from a single vineyard within the Gimblett Gravels winegrowing district of Hawke’s Bay. The vigour moderating, free draining gravel provides a superb base for this low cropping Cabernet Franc. This vineyard site has ideal ripening conditions for achieving the intense aromatics and delicate structure that Cabernet Franc can give."

5 Stars & Top 10 Cuisine NZ Bordeaux Style Reds Tasting, June 2024 (2020 Vintage)
"Ripe plums stream through the nose backed up by green leafy herbal characteristics that are so typical of cabernet franc and aromas of freshly shaved wood. The palate is well weighted and expressive with dark berries and thyme, and a lovely finish. A beautiful example."

4 Stars Michael Cooper (2020 Vintage)
"Made in a 'fruit-driven' style, the 2020 vintage was grown in Mere Road, in the Gimblett Gravels, and matured for 11 months in French oak (14 per cent new). It has full, bright, purple-flushed colour. Medium-bodied, it is lively, with berry, plum and spice flavours, fresh acidity and good concentration. Best drinking 2024+."

Joelle Thomson, drinksbiz Magazine August/September 2024 (2020 Vintage)
"An impressive expression of Cabernet Franc from one of New Zealand's largest family-owned wineries, Saint Clair. Hawkes Bay-grown grapes are used to make this structured, perfumed red, which is deep in colour with lifted blackcurrant leaf aromas and notes of savoury spice."