As the 'top' reds of the 2000 red wine vintage - especially those from Hawkes Bay - come on stream, parallels are being made to the fabulously ripe 1998 reds, but I'm thinking perhaps the reds from the 2000 vintage will be the longer lived. They definitely seem to me to have more finesse.

Point in case, or in the glass I should say, is this week's wine of the week, the Sacred Hill Brokenstone Merlot 2000. Actually it is not 100% Merlot, as stated on the bottle. The very precise percentages on the notes from the winemaker give 11% malbec and 3.6% cabernet franc in the blend.

Perhaps the malbec adds to the colour because it is intensely deep and dense. It's the colour of shiny black cherries that we get in New Zealand at Christmas time, dense red-black with purple-red highlights.

The malbec and the cabernet franc definitely lend to the fragrance. It's a meaty aroma with a hint of mint at first, reminding me of minted lamb. Then lots of spice, together with floral notes, joins the fragrant smoky vanillin oak.

In the mouth it's rich and robust with *really* juicy fruit showing flavours of ripe plum and blackberry, supported by firm velvety tannins. There is so much flavour in this rich and complex wine. The oak makes itself known and soon the leathery character of merlot comes out - give me some food, it says. Then about 5 minutes later, the spiciness emerges and the classic merlot character of cigar box lingers.

This is a beautifully structured and evolving wine, offering much pleasure from a single glass when slowly sipped and savoured. When it has been opened for a good hour, leather, smoke, blueberries play on the palate.

Of course I left the wine to try when it was a few days on. The tannins have integrated into the sweet fruit well, the flavour is rich and creamy, licorice spice together with chocolate and vanillin flavours linger along with the ripe cherry, plum and cassis fruit. These are flavours that I love. While it is extremely evocative and alluring when first opened, it's just fantastic now!

This wine will really reward cellaring - Sacred Hill recommends a period of 5-10 years.

But if you want to commit infanticide and drink the wine young, then give the wine some food. The tannins can be deceptively soft as first but they really are quite grippy.

As you are dining with your friends or lover, with the wine accompanying perhaps minted lamb, a saddle of venison, seared beef with Japanese-style flavourings or my favourite - Peking Duck, ponder on this conundrum. Is it Broken Stone or Brokenstone? I look at the front of the bottle - the word Broken sits above the word Stone - all are in capital letters This makes me think it is 'Broken Stone'. However on the back of the bottle it is presented as 'Brokenstone'. I really don't know, so I'll go for the latter.

The Sacred Hill Brokenstone Merlot 2000 is made from Hawkes Bay fruit by talented winemaker Tony Bish. Matured in new and 1-year old French Barriques for 18 months after post ferment maceration, it has 13.5 - 14% alcohol by volume.

It retails in New Zealand for around $40.

PS. When looking back through my archives of notes I found I reviewed this wine in November last year. I wrote "Very appealing aroma with floral nuances, spice and creamy oak. Plum, sweet fruit and spice with a gorgeous texture that floats across the palate. Very well integrated tannins. Lingering berry and plum. Superb already. Great potential. "

© Sue Courtney