Claire Rogers All about wine www.sunlive.co.nz

If you are looking for a wine of distinction then the 2009 Mills Reef Elspeth Cabernet Merlot will certainly fit the bill. I just love the intense, dark red, ruby colour of this wine.

This lovely red is made from ultra-premium grapes grown on low-yielding Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines from the Mere Road Vineyard which is situated in the renowned Gimblett Gravels district of the Hawke's Bay.
This wine is a classic, full-bodied blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (52 per cent) and Merlot (48 per cent). It has intense dark forest fruit flavours with a slight dustiness coming from the Cabernet, a true Bordeaux-style wine. I just loved the layers coating my pallet. Dan from Mills Reef describes this wine as a 'real thinking person's wine”.
The Elspeth range represents the top tier of wines produced from the Mills Reef vineyards. Only fruit of exceptional quality are selected which are then hand-picked to produce these top quality wines. With cold, wet evenings possibly descending upon us this weekend, this would be an ideal wine to serve by the fire with a lovely slow-cooked beef bourguignon with dauphinoise potatoes. Check out the video on SunLive with Dan Shea.
The Weekend Sun has a bottle of Mills Reef Elspeth Cabernet Merlot 2009 to give away to a lucky reader who can tell us what per cent Merlot it is.
Enter online at www.sunlive.co.nz under the competitions section before Wednesday, July 17.