Sneaky Bill Hawke's Bay Merlot 2022

Sneaky Bill Hawke's Bay Merlot 2022"Sweetly fruited and fragrant, the wine shows dark plum, thyme, toasted spice and almond notes on the nose, followed by a fruit forward palate delivering juicy fruit flavours with silky mouthfeel, finishing succulent and tasty. At its best: now to 2027" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Mar 2024 "Medium ruby red, even colour throughout. The nose is gentle, with aromas of plum, red berry, clove and toasty oak details. Medium bodied, aromas of red berry and plum

"Sweetly fruited and fragrant, the wine shows dark plum, thyme, toasted spice and almond notes on the nose, followed by a fruit-forward palate delivering juicy fruit flavours with silky mouthfeel, finishing succulent and tasty. At its best: now to 2027" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Mar 2024

"Medium ruby-red, even colour throughout. The nose is gentle, with aromas of plum, red berry, clove and toasty oak details. Medium-bodied, aromas of red berry and plum melded with clove and cinnamon bark. The wine is straightforward, with red fruit and oak supported by lively acidity. Sandy-grained tannins provide depth and structure to the vibrant fruit" Candice Chow, Raymond Chan Reviews, Apr 2025

"Very bright appearance with ruby and purple hues. Aromas and flavours of plums and black currant, there’s a touch of violet floral and a cold-stone mineral layer. Youthful with plenty of acidity for freshness and moderate tannins impact. Flavours of red berries and plums are persistent, a wine with texture and flavour with best drinking from day of purchase through 2029" Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier

This Merlot incorporates bold flavours that are bound to set your taste buds alight. Vibrant aromas of spiced plum cake with liquorice undertones. The palate is brimming with layers of delicious blackcurrant, cherry and cinnamon, a fine tannin line lingers on the finish.

Sneaky Bill spent the majority of the 2022 growing season closely monitoring our Merlot grapes, waiting patiently for the fruit to reach optimum ripeness and flavour potential. The grapes for this expressive and inviting Merlot was machine harvested in mid-March and bought swiftly to the winery.

The fruit was held cold soaked for 5 days to extract colour from the skins before going to a warm fermentation in stainless-steel vessels. The wine was inoculated, plunged, and pumped over to extract the seductive deep ruby colour and tannin. Skins were kept in contact until the merlot reached a perfect balance of flavours and structure before it was racked to barrel for a secondary malolactic fermentation and aging in barrel.