Man O' War Ironclad 2010

With a name like Man O' War Ironclad, you'd be forgiven if you reached for the nearest potential weapon and ran to a strategic position whilst calling for back up. But we would advise against that. We would advise you to raise a white flag and surrender yourself to this sublime piece of artistry (see what we did there).

A blend of Bordeaux grape varieties from no less than 45 different plots, which are all handled separately in the winery to maximise their individual potential before being blended, Ironclad has huge complexity of blue and black fruits, crushed stone, chalk and wild thyme.

The palate is very concentrated with a supple texture and a streak of minerality on the finish. Needless to say, this powerful wine will strive from victory to victory for at least a decade.

Man O' War began planting vines on Waiheke Island in 1993. There are now 150 acres of vines planted by Man O' War vineyards which are split into 76 individual hillside blocks. The name Man O' War originates from the discovery of Waiheke Island. In 1769 Captain James Cook was on a voyage around the Islands of New Zealand; when Captain Cook caught sight of the Kauri trees growing on Waiheke Island he wrote in his journal that they would make ideal masts for the warships of the Royal Navy. Man O' War is a collection of cliffs, hillsides and beaches on the Eastern coastline of Waiheke Island.

With lots of wine-making experience under his belt from working in the vineyards of Burgundy, California, Germany and more recently Waipara Valley, Duncan McTavish has created wines that are reflections of his personality and the land.

Man O’ War has 45 different vineyard sites dedicated to Bordeaux varietals. Each vineyard is meticulously sorted in the vineyard by hand harvesting and double sorted in the winery by both bunch and berry. Each vineyard is kept separate from vineyard to barrel with the blend carefully selected from the 45 different parcels in the following year. The ferments are carefully managed with twice daily plunging by hand and fermentation carried out by native yeast. After an average of 30 days in vat the wines are gently pressed direct to barrel and remain on their yeast lees until blending. Malolactic fermentation occurs spontaneously in the spring. After blending the wines stay in tank for four months before a light filtration to bottle.

Ironclad is a blend of Bordeaux varietals from 45 different warm clay hillside vineyards on beautiful Waiheke Island in Auckland Bay. On the nose the cassis from the Cabernet Sauvignon is quite overt but there is huge complexity underneath of both blue and black fruits, crushed stone, chalk and wild thyme. The palate is very concentrated with a supple texture in the mid palate progressing to a streak of minerality towards the finish contributing freshness to the wine and complementing the fine grained tannins. Ironclad 2010 will reward decanting in its youth and will also reward long patient cellaring with a wine of immense complexity, power and longevity.