Man O' War Ironclad 2024

Tasting Note

The 2024 Ironclad is seamless and commanding, opening with a deep and confident nose of blackcurrant, graphite, dark plum, and cassis, layered with cedar, cigar box, bay leaf, and a hint of sea spray. A polished, savoury undertow of dried herbs, cocoa, and crushed rock speaks clearly of site and restraint. On the palate, rich dark fruits like blackberry, damson plum, and black cherry roll in first, framed by fine maritime tannins and a cool mineral spine. Oak adds structure with notes of spice, toasted cedar, and dark chocolate, while vibrant acidity keeps the wine lifted and precise. The finish is long, dry, and confident, fading in layers of cassis, graphite, and saline freshness—a composed wine built to travel a long way.

Aromas and flavours

Additional information

Type: Red wine

Varietals: 50% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot, 12% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Suggested food match: Beef Wellington, Beef Carpaccio with crispy capers.

Vintage 2024: The 2024 season delivered everything Bordeaux-inspired reds aspire to: balance, concentration, and finesse. From budburst to harvest, Waiheke Island enjoyed a near-textbook run of warm days, cool nights, and ideal conditions. Yields were naturally low with small, intensely flavoured berries, producing some of the estate's finest wines to date.

Winemaking: Sourced from dry-grown vineyards in steep, sheltered valleys protected from cooling Pacific winds, the fruit was hand-harvested between March 16th and April 3rd. Each parcel was fermented separately with native yeasts in open-top fermenters with a total time in vat of 30 days. Maturation took place individually in 500-litre French oak puncheons (30% new oak, 70% seasoned) with natural malolactic fermentation and resting on gross lees for 18 months. Following extensive blending trials, the final blend was returned to oak for a further six months to harmonise structure before bottling.

Cellaring potential: 2036+

The name Ironclad: Ironclad is named in honour of the 19th Century warships characterised by the iron armour bolted onto their wooden hulls, much as iron courses through the veins of the warm clay hillside vineyards.

Alcohol: 14.7% vol

Residual sugar:  <1 g/l

TA: 5.2 g/l

Bottle size: 0.75l

Notice: contains sulphites

Closure: Screwcap

Ingredients: Raw materials: Grapes, Enrichments: Sugar, Preservatives: Potassium metabisulphite (E 224), Sulphur dioxide (E 220), Acidity regulators: Tartaric acid (E 334), Packaging gases: Carbon dioxide, Nitrogen.

Produced and bottled by: Man O' War Vineyards, PO Box 1287, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140, New Zealand

Distributor: vinabonus GmbH, Simmedenweg 40, 34134 Kassel, Germany