“With stunning sophistication and complexity, this meticulously composed red shows beautifully lifted aromas of dark purple fruit intensity together with seductive notes of cedar, cigar. cocoa and violet on the nose. The palate exhibits outstanding weight and depth, while remaining graceful and poised, leading to an extremely long finish, backed by fine, chalky tannins.” -Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, March 2019, 97 points
"Wonderful perfume, savoury tobacco-laced and floral at once, cocoa, blue, red and black fruit – all the colours. Its light but dense, all lead pencil and tobacco, tannin is grainy and tightly packed, and while not quite the quality of top vintages, does the job very neatly indeed. Crushed rock, dried herb, blueberry pie linger on a long and firm finish. So fine. So classy." -Gary Walsh, The Winefront Australia 2019, 95 points
"Deep, bright red colour with a lot of purple in its hue. The bouquet very fresh and aromatic, delightfully bright and cabernet-cassisy. Full-bodied, supple and the tannins are fully ripe yet structurally excellent. Cedary, too. This is an elegant, tightly packed, refreshing wine with good acidity and fine-grained but persistent tannins. High potential. A stand-out wine." -Huon Hooke, The Real Review, October 2019, 96 points
"There’s a lot of promise in this wine with fresh red fruit aromas, leafy garden herb and animal notes. This is one to keep in the cellar and see how it unwinds." -Amanda Barnes, November 2018
"New Zealand's Greatest Red Wine" -Raymond Chan, Raymond Chan Wine Reviews, 2 August 2017
"The country’s most iconic wine label." -Bob Campbell, MW, Decanter UK 2015
"The legendary cabernet sauvignon and merlot blend of NZ. New Zealand’s Sassicaia." -James Suckling, USA 2012