Hellburner (375ml)
Waiheke Island
2018

Hellburner (375ml)

Fortified wines have a huge aromatic lift, the Hellburner being no exception with lashings of dark fruit and a very appropriate lift of shot firecrackers. The palate is vibrant and vivacious with generous sweetness framed by robust tannins and a fresh finish.
Named for the notorious fire ships Drake unleashed in darkness upon an unsuspecting Spanish Armada that led to the dispersion, defeat and ultimate destruction of the “Great and Most Fortunate Navy”.

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Winemaking

Hellburner is a selection of ultra ripe or raisined fruit taken off the sorting table from the 2018 vintage. The fruit was mostly destemmed and taken to vat for a wild fermentation. Towards the end of fermentation pure alcohol was added to arrest the yeast, stopping the fermentation with sugar still remaining. The wine was then pressed off to barrel for 5 year aging process to begin. After aging in barrel the blend was selected from barrels displaying a mix of fruit characters and savoury notes as well as tannins that were still robust but not coarse. The wine was adjusted in tank with small sugar addition based off tasting the blend.