Villa Maria Reserve Gimblett Gravels Malbec

Being NZ’s most awarded winery you come to expect anything under their premium Reserve black label to be glittered in awards…and hey presto they’ve done it again!

From a great ’15 vintage in Hawke’s Bay (the third belter in a row in that area) they’ve used the best parcels of fruit from their Gimblett Gravels vineyards and produced a single variety Malbec, pretty rare in the NZ wine scene. But if you’re going to do a Malbec, you may as well do it right. Right?

It’s already got a swag of awards including Gold medal at the Royal Easter Wine Show, Gold at the Hawke’s Bay Wine Awards and a solid 94/100 by Bob Campbell (MW) – he called it “A serious malbec with equally serious cellaring potential.“

The winemaker waffles on about its dense deeply coloured and brooding wine perfumed with the scent of blackberries, plums, vanilla and peppery spices. We just think if you’re after an NZ red that’s something a little bit different but simply oozing with class, this is your guy.

It’s got potential to go for 10-12 years from vintage so make sure you drink some now, cellar some for later.