2018 Babich Irongate Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Merlot

93 Points Richard Caro
In stock
A classy Bordeaux style red from the Gimblett Gravels. Babich are old hands in Hawkes Bay where the Irongate vines are on some of its best real estate. The superb result is a wine of medium body and bright fruit on a beautifully tempered frame of freshness and ripe tannins. An age-worthy wine that is not about power so much as balance and sheer quality. Great value!
$38.99 in mixed 6+ or $43.99 per bottle

Grape

43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 17% Cabernet Franc

Its Origins

Babich Wines have been proud producers of fine New Zealand wines since 1916, when Croatian immigrant Josip Babich produced his first vintage. 100 years on, their family business has three generations of winemaking experience behind it, vineyards in New Zealand’s finest wine regions, and a passion for winemaking as a way of life. Managing Director, Joe Babich, a long-standing senior wine judge, during more than thirty-five vintages as winemaker has long been acclaimed as one of New Zealand’s most talented and most respected winemakers and wine judges, and has carved out a reputation for consistently outstanding wines.

What The Critics Say

Winemaker notes on current 2018 vintage

"Blackberry, blueberry, cigar box and plum aromas. Inviting and warm with a touch of spice, charcuterie and well-integrated oak. Smooth and seamless with layers of sweet dark fruits, cocoa, leather, cedar and liquorish. Dense, concentrated and vibrant with a long finish. Extensive crop thinning produced excellent parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. These grapes were picked in the cool of evening and individually fermented in open vats before spending a lengthy time on skins to aid structural development. The wines were drained and put into new and seasoned 225L French oak casks. The wine spent a total of 15 months in oak."

94/100 Cameron Douglas MS (2017 vintage)

"Made with cabernets sauvignon and franc with merlot showcasing aromas of fresh black fruits and tobacco, cigar box, graphite and plum. Other aromas include dried roses and iodine, balck olive and baking spice. Fabulous on the palate reflecting both varieties and place with flavours of dark berries and floral non-fruit attributes as well as a stony rocky mineral quality. Firm tannins and acidity suggest more integration time required or decanting if early drinking reuqired. A lengthy dry finish."

5 Stars Michael Cooper (2017 vintage)

"Grown in the Irongate Vineyard and aged in French oak barriques (40 per cent new in 2016), this elegant, complex, firmly structured red is designed for cellaring. Retasted in April 2019, the 2016 vintage (5*) has promisingly deep, youthful colour. Fragrant and mouthfilling, it is well-structured, with deep blackcurrant, plum and spice flavours, oak complexity, good tannin backbone and excellent cellaring potential."

Variety Cabernet Merlot Blend
Region Hawkes Bay
Closure Cork
Volume 750ml
Maturity 2022 - 2029

This Wine Goes Well With

with BEEF
with STRONG CHEESE
with VENISON

Taste

3

We deliver throughout New Zealand and to some locations overseas. Our deliveries are made by trusted third party carriers. For further details on prices and delivery options please go to DELIVERY INFORMATION section of our site.

If for any reason you are not entirely happy with your order or you suspect that they may be affected by a quality issue, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will remedy the problem straight away. Contact us on 0800 422 767.