Wine: 2008 Craggy Range Te Kahu Vineyard
Region: New Zealand
Sokolin Price: $14.99/btl
Rating: 92 + RP
This week we are sharing a treasure of a wine from New Zealand, a New World wine region that continues to receive recognition for its wines year after year. Interestingly enough, it turns out, Te Kahu means "the cloak" and per its wine label, "takes its name from the cloak of mist that covers the hills around [our] Giants winery."
Craggy Range, a family owned vineyard that focuses on the making of high-quality, single-vineyard wines, comes from Hawkes Bay, which is on the eastern coast of the North Island. New Zealand is actually divided into two islands, the North Island and the South Island, with wine producing regions on both islands.
While New Zealand is probably best known among consumers for its Sauvignon Blanc wines, the country has achieved quite the success with red wines too. And our wine find this week is a red - a blend, predominately of Merlot (64%), with some Cabernet Franc (15%), Cabernet Sauvignon (14%) & Malbec (7%) added. They combine together to make a sensational wine!
Over the weekend, we paired this wine with succulent, baked stuffed green, red and yellow peppers. The stuffing came from an old German recipe consisting of ground sirloin, diced Spanish onions and white rice, all drenched in a delicious tomato sauce. Together with the Te Kahu, this was quite a meal! Considering how young this wine is, we kind of expected the Te Kahu to be full of muscle with a lot of kick and power behind it (and maybe even a teeth-stainer with its inky, blackish/blue color!), but it actually SHOCKED us. In our tasting, we experienced a very well-balanced wine that was more approachable than we had ever expected. Its approachability at such a young age likely comes from the predominant Merlot grape and the excellent blending by the wine maker. The Te Kahu was packed with notes of dark fruit with floral subtleties, and considering the long finish it graced us with, it should age well in your cellar for the next 10+ years.
Looking at its price tag of $14.99/btl, most consumers, without even tasting it, would automatically label it as a 'value wine', but in reality, it provides much more than that. Even Parker gave it 92+ points. You can taste the quality in this wine with your first sip, and trust us, it has the ability to deliver. Don't be deceived by the low price tag. This is one of the rare circumstances where you get more than what you pay for.
Our Recommendation: From our table this year, we are virtually touring the world's best wine regions. We hope you join us, take part in our wine finds and enjoy each bottle as much as we do! Along with us, you can experience and taste wines from all over the world without leaving your home.