Twin Totara is a small, family-owned label based beside the Riverhead Forest in the Kumeu district of West Auckland, New Zealand. Its wines come from boutique, low-volume plantings in a maritime climate on the clay-rich soils of the Kumeu hills, a district better known for Chardonnay than for Bordeaux reds. This Cabernet Franc–Merlot is made in tiny quantities as a soft, berry-fruited red. The 2022 vintage across the greater Auckland region was warm but marked by damp spells, so careful site work and canopy management were needed to ripen the later Bordeaux varieties cleanly.

The Cabernet Franc and Merlot were fermented on skins to build the ripe berry fruit and soft, lingering tannins described by the producer, then matured in oak to add the noted vanilla and gentle spice. The wines are made off-site by the experienced team at the nearby West Brook Winery in Kumeu. Specific fermentation temperatures, oak regime and time in barrel for this bottling are not publicly documented.