Tasting Notes 1996
Awatea Cabernet/Merlot 1996 has a dark ruby colour, an aroma of plums, red berries and spice, and has firm tannins giving backbone to a ripe soft palate.
Awatea Cabernet/Merlot 1996 is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot and 16% Cabernet Franc, with a potential to improve in bottle for 5-8 years from harvest.
Awatea Cabernet/Merlot 1996 is an ideal accompaniment to all red meats, Italian food and cheeses.
Technical Analysis
pH: 3.73
Total acidity as tartaric: 5.6g/l
Alcohol: 13%
Residual sugar: Dry
Winemaking
Following destemming and crushing the grapes were given a plunged and warm fermentation followed by a period of maceration on the skins. The finished wine was then run to barrels for a further eighteen months ageing, during which the wine was blended and egg-white fined before bottling in December 1997.
Vineyards
Awatea Cabernet/Merlot 1996 was made from grapes hand harvested between the 10th and 24th April.
Origin
Awatea takes its name from the legendary ship SS Awatea (a Maori word meaning ‘Eye of the Dawn’) that sailed the Auckland - Sydney - Wellington route in the late 1930’s. The Awatea was requisitioned as a troop transport in WWII and was sunk off Algeria in 1942.
