Old Coach Road Merlot 2025

Vineyard: Seifried Edens Road vineyard
Date of Harvest: Early April 2025
pH of Wine: 3.55
T.A of Wine: 5.2
Alcohol: 13.5%
Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans: Yes

Our Edens Road vineyard lies near the Wairoa River and is notable for its exceptionally stony soil. This site is 12km from the coast and is sheltered by the Richmond Ranges. These stony, free-draining soils, which are full of river rocks and boulders, are tough on farm equipment but vital in holding the warmth from the sun. This means the vines need to burrow to find water, which adds lovely minerality to the fruit flavour. Irrigation is key in this vineyard as moisture quickly moves down through the porous stone soil structure.

The fruit was harvested in early April 2025 and was fermented in stainless steel open-top fermenters, over a two week period. The fermenting grapes were plunged twice daily throughout fermentation to help extract colour, tannin and to build structure into the wine.

The young wine was drained to oak barrels immediately following primary fermentation to begin malolactic fermentation. It was aged in one, two and three-year-old French barriques for an extended period. The final wine was blended, stabilised and bottled in October 2025.