Villa Maria - Ngakirikiri Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 (750ml)

Add to Wish List

Price: $99.99

3+ Price: $97.99 / btl

6+ Price: $95.99 / btl

12+ Price: $94.99 /btl

Producer	Villa Maria
Country	New Zealand
Region	Hawke's Bay
Subregion	Gimblett Gravels
Varietal	Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage	2019
Sku	108710
Size	750ml
ABV	13.50%

Villa Maria Description

Winemaker Notes

'Ngakirikiri' in Maori, refers to the unique gravel soils that define the Hawkes Bay, Gimblett Gravels growing appellation, a befitting name for this stony Hawkes Bay vineyard sited on what was an ancient riverbed. The Gimblett Gravels sub-region is a majestic site with a reputation for beautiful and thought-provoking wines.

This Villa Maria flagship wine is only made when exceptionally rare conditions produce truly outstanding wines for consideration. Their Icon wines represent the pinnacle of Villa Maria’s winemaking achievements and a milestone in the winery's history.

Upon pouring, this deep purple colored wine gradually yields notably intense and pure aromatics of cassis, black plum and anise, with ground coffee bean, graphite, fragrant thyme and cedar nuances also vying for attention. Layers of concentrated flavors emerge and flow beautifully across the palate from start to finish, with optimally ripe fruit, fine-grained tannins and supportive oak enhancing overall texture and richness at each point along the way. This full-bodied wine will benefit and gain additional complexity from careful cellaring over the next 15-20 years.

Professional Ratings

96Vinous
Just the fourth vintage of Villa's flagship Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2019 Ngakirikiri is as smooth as marble. What's nice about this varietal wine is that it is accepting of its inherent characteristics. Yes, there are pyrazines here, in the form of an herbal lick, but the wine is fully ripe, offering dark black and raspberry coulis fruit alongside dark chocolate and mint. The fruit has excellent concentration, yet it's not over the top; it's firmly structured but not austere. The tannins provide a robust frame for the wine to evolve over the coming years. This is a wine that has clearly had a lot of love, evident in its huge intensity, carefully judged extraction and judicious use of high-quality French oak barrels. It has set out to be one of the best Cabernets in the country, and so far, it’s achieving its aim. I look forward to seeing how it evolves, as we have little precedent so far.