Oyster Bay Merlot 2020 (Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand)
You are probably familiar with Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, from Marlborough, New Zealand. This light, crisp, aromatic wine, with its citrus and tropical fruit flavours, has been a firm favourite of mine for many years. It is consistently very good and is a great match for seafood. I hadn’t really paid much attention to other wines in Oyster Bay’s range so decided give the Merlot a try. I’m glad I did; here are my thoughts.
The grapes for Oyster Bay’s Merlot are grown in Hawke’s Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. This is new Zealand’s warmest grape growing region and the combination of the warm maritime climate, the long sunshine hours and the rich soils creates an ideal home for Merlot vines, and others such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Chardonnay.
Deep ruby in colour, this is a smooth, mellow wine with medium acidity and medium tannins. With pronounced aromas of blackcurrant, and hints of vanilla and chocolate on the nose, leading to ripe black fruit flavours and hints of oak and chocolate on the palate, this is a medium-bodied wine with a lengthy finish. A very good value wine which went perfectly well with moussaka.
Available from Tesco (£10)