Villa Maria Private Bin Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 Hawkes Bay, New Zealand 75cl

Villa Maria is New Zealand’s largest independent winemaker, family-founded over fifty years ago and a familiar name on tables at home and abroad. Private Bin is its widely loved everyday tier, made to deliver honest regional character at a friendly price. It has been a reliable staple for decades, and remains one of the country’s most recognised red blends.

This is a Merlot-led Bordeaux Blend with Cabernet Sauvignon, drawn from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand’s warmest home for the Bordeaux varieties. Free-draining gravel soils and high sunshine hours ripen Merlot and Cabernet reliably here, and a portion of the fruit comes from the sought-after gravelly ground near Gimblett Road that gives the reds their structure and depth of colour. Merlot leads for softness and plush fruit, with Cabernet lending backbone and a cassis lift.

The 2016 vintage in Hawkes Bay produced ripe, medium-weight reds with good balance, exactly the frame for this easygoing style.

Expect fragrant aromas of cassis and red fruit lifted by a leafy, dried-herb note that is typical of the blend. The palate is medium-bodied and rounded, with a rich mouthfeel, supple tannins and a smooth, gently savoury finish. It drinks well now and needs no cellaring, a wine made for the table rather than the rack.

This is a dependable, food-friendly red for any night of the week. It suits most red meats, a wide range of cheeses and Mediterranean-inspired cooking, and it makes a comfortable, forgiving introduction to New Zealand’s Bordeaux-style reds for anyone who enjoys claret or a softer Merlot.