Community Tasting Notes 23

• peter.mancell@mfg.com.au wrote: 92 points

  May 7, 2022 - Archetypal new world Bordeaux blend but better than most from Bordeaux!

  Comment

• Marc wrote: 90 points

  June 6, 2021 - Abbot Street Delights (Abbot Street, Ngaio, Wellington, New Zealand): Drunk next to the Phelps Insignia 1995, this provided a similar level of high-end Cabernet opulence, with plush texture and plummy ripe fruit, but a much more linear palate profile as befitting its terroir. As always, this is a bottle that delivers an impressively international new world style, with perhaps a bit too much oak handling, There was a question of whether all of the fruit was of similar ripeness levels, but I was impressed with this - a wine of this style and quality would have been unheard of in the country just 20 years before....

  Comment

• HowardNZ Likes this wine: 90 points

  January 9, 2020 - When produced, this was Craggy Range's top Bordeaux blend (the Cabernet Sauvignon dominant Quarry suffered from under-ripeness) from its best parcels of grapes. Merlot 62%, Cabernet Franc 34% and Cabernet Sauvignon 4%. Nineteen months in oak barriques, a full 80% new. Deep black-red colour, moving rusty garnet. A high fill in the bottle but the cork crumbled on extraction. Decanting, it threw a lot of sediment. At its best after four hour's air, but the wine stayed the same after that, finishing the last glass on the second evening. Secondary, savoury and earthy aromas. Very dark fruited, with some fruit fresh and some dried. Also, mushrooms, spices, sous bois and tobacco leaf. An oak-related element reminiscent of an old mahogany dresser or - perhaps - of Piemontese tar. A savoury, earthy entry to the palate. After 15 years, the barrel oak is largely integrated, although there is a slightly vanillin, shaved coconut element present. Besides the soil signature, there are preserved dark plums and cherries, black tea, dried mushrooms, old leather and a touch of creosote. Good volume and concentration with acceptable acidity and length, finishing on a little espresso bitterness. This may be an imperfect - prematurely advanced - bottle. This bottle, fully secondary, flirting with tertiary. Time to drink up.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• kfrench150 Likes this wine: 97 points

  July 18, 2017 - Right Bank Bordeaux blend of Merlot and Cab Franc. Pristine bottle, high fill, firm cork with less than 1 mm soaking. Impenetrably dark, very rich, reddish purple black almost to the rim. Boysenberry, black raspberry, black currant, black plums skins, charcoal, maybe some black tea, red licorice, super dark fruit concentrate nose. Tons of fruit extract, glycerine, mouth coating, full bodied feel. All the same flavours, with an impression of caramel as well in the mouth, and very hedonistic. Almost over the top but the balance is perfect. Still a trace of tannins. The finish is delicate and ethereal and feathery despite all the fruit. So polished and smooth. What an amazing wine! A true stunner! Too bad it is the last one...

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• kfrench150 Likes this wine: 95 points

  August 5, 2016 - Liquid blood ruby red. Very deep colour. Blue plums, black currant and overripe raspberries on the nose. Very fresh, very young no tertiary notes at all. Dances across your palate and fills your mouth but lightly and fresh. Black currant and raspberry pastille flavours build to the finish which is full, still a bit tight and lingering. Delicious!

  Comment

Pro Reviews 3

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2005
• Type Red
• Producer Craggy Range
• Varietal Red Bordeaux Blend
• Designation Sophia
• Vineyard n/a
• Country New Zealand
• Region North Island
• SubRegion Hawke's Bay
• Appellation Gimblett Gravels
• UPC Codes 9421004550598, 9421004551236

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 1 (0%)
• In Cellars 192 (59%)
• Consumed 130 (40%)

Food Pairing

Who Likes This Wine

More About This Wine