Bridge Pa and the Merlot Cab Franc that earned its stripes

Marlborough is home.

We grow our own fruit in the Wairau and the Southern Valleys, and that's where most of our story sits. But there are a couple of varieties Marlborough doesn't do well, and Bordeaux reds sit at the top of that list. To make a Merlot Cabernet Franc with proper structure and concentration, we had to go to where the variety actually works.

The dirt does most of the talking

The Bridge Pa Triangle is a small wedge of Hawke's Bay sitting just inland of Hastings, hemmed in by the Ngaruroro and Karamu rivers. What it has — and what most of New Zealand's red wine regions don't — is iron-rich gravels: ancient riverbeds laid down by the Ngaruroro and Karamu, mineral-loaded, free-draining, and warmer than the soils around them.

If you want to grow Bordeaux varieties in New Zealand and have them ripen properly, the gravels of Bridge Pa are where the country does it best. Most of Hawke's Bay's reputation as a red wine region has been built on this dirt. The Gimblett Gravels get the magazine covers; Bridge Pa makes the wine.

From a Saint-Émilion cellar to Bridge Pa

The story doesn't start in Hawke's Bay. It starts on the right bank of Bordeaux.

In the 90s, Manu — Misty Cove's South-African-born, French-trained winemaker — was working at Château Berliquet, a Grand Cru Classé estate in Saint-Émilion. Saint-Émilion is the right bank's spiritual home: Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the alphabet you learn the trade in.

One vintage, a New Zealand winemaker came through the cellar — head of one of Villa Maria's flagship Hawke's Bay wineries, Esk Valley. Out of that visit came an offer: come to Hawke's Bay, work alongside me at Esk, see what those Bordeaux ideas do in New Zealand soil.

Manu took it. He spent the next stretch at Esk Valley learning Hawke's Bay reds, harvest by harvest. The same winemaker later planted and ran one of the Bridge Pa Triangle's most respected red wine estates — one of the names that defines what Hawke's Bay does with Merlot and Cabernet Franc today.

The vineyard that supplies the fruit for this bottle traces back through that line. Saint-Émilion to Esk Valley to Bridge Pa. It's how the wine got here.

What's in the bottle

The 2024 vintage in Hawke's Bay was as good as it gets — a long, warm summer with cool nights that held the natural acidity in place through ripening. The fruit was harvested from selected blocks, fermented in small batches to keep the varietal character distinct, and given an extended post-ferment maceration to integrate the tannins properly.

The final blend is 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, aged for 12 months in French oak — 30% new, 70% seasoned. Only the best barrels made the final cut.

The result is a wine that leads with dark plum, blackberry and dried herbs, opens up on the palate to ripe blackcurrant and juicy red cherry, and finishes with tobacco, graphite and that chalky, fine-grained tannin structure that's the Bridge Pa signature. A wine with generosity and polish — but also one with cellar legs. Drinkable now, better in five years.

What the press is saying

Sam Kim at Wine Orbit gave the 2024 vintage 93 points / 5 stars: "Beautifully composed and styled, the wine shows blackcurrant, ripe plum, thyme, game, and toasted almond. Succulent and supple, with fine, chalky tannins that make it harmonious and sturdy."

Cameron Douglas MS gave it 90 points and flagged "dark berries and sweet chocolate, a mix of fruit space and earth-smoke from baked soil to stone." Stephen Wong at The Real Review also gave it 90 points — "ripe and plush full-bodied palate of raspberry and plum seasoned with cinnamon."

Who it's for

The wine that proves we don't only do whites.

For trade:

• Bottle list venues with proper red wine programs
• Sommeliers who want a Hawke's Bay Bordeaux blend that punches above its tier
• Retailers whose customers are moving past Marlborough Pinot Noir into structured reds
• Cellar-led accounts looking for something with five-year legs

Strong on the by-the-glass list when paired with grilled red meats; properly at home on the bottle list next to richer dishes — slow-cooked lamb, beef brisket, smoked mushroom. The herbal Cab Franc spine keeps it food-friendly without losing the depth that a 12-month French oak élevage gives it.

Availability

2024 vintage, current. Allocation for NZ, Australia, Europe and the US. Tech sheets and product imagery in the Trade Hub.

Questions, orders or samples — drop Carlos a line: carlos@mistycovewines.com