Here's a wine that's definitely one of the stars from the Hawkes Bay 2000 vintage - the Stonecroft Ruhanui, a seductive blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 15% Syrah.

"Yum, that's delicious" was the first reaction. Now's that's a positive and simple descriptor. And as more wine was consumed, the superlatives keep coming.

The wine is a vibrant colour, a youthful purple pinky-red with a solid medium depth to it.

The smoky nose exudes classical varietal cabernet sauvignon aromas with concentrated berry and cassis.

In the mouth the wine is rich and concentrated and full of flavour. It's smooth, ripe and creamy with warm berry fruit, spicy cedar and a hint of licorice complexity. There's reasonably firm but velvety tannins. As more wine is sipped, the complexity of the flavours becomes apparent. I find some meaty leather, tobacco, concentrated creamy berry spice, a little milk chocolate and a flicker of mint.

Then the Syrah component makes a statement on the finish as the vibrant spice emerges and lingers.

There's good crisp acidity to ensure the wine will be long-lived.

2000 was a riper year than 1999, a vintage that Alan Limmer believes is underrated by many and one that Alan believes will eventually be rated higher than the acclaimed 1998. But for now the 2000 is the one I want to drink and at only NZ$30 a bottle ex cellar door in this day of increasing wine prices, this is excellent value for money.

Being such a good vintage, there are good volumes so plenty of Ruhanui to go around. It should be widely available in retail. Seek and you should find.

This wine has such terrific balance and integration of flavours, it's drinking well now but has a fabulous potential to age. Alan Limmer contributes this to the UCD Cabernet Sauvignon clone and the vineyard site.

Fruit for the wine is sourced from Stonecroft's two vineyards, the original block on Mere Road and the newer block on the slopes of Roy's Hill. The vineyards are on either side of what was once the old Ngaruroro riverbed. In the 1867 floods the Ngaruroro River changed its course, taking a path down the 'Ruhanui' river bed and thus exposing what is now the acclaimed Gimblett Gravels.

A taste of the Stonecroft Hawkes Bay Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 1991 proved the aging point. If you have any of the 1991 in your cellar, it is superb right now and on a plateau that should see it through to the next decade.