£25.50 / bottle
£290.70 / case (12+ bottles, 5% off)
| Origin | South Africa, Stellenbosch |
|---|---|
| Main Grapes | Merlot |
| Other Grapes | Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot |
| Vintages | 2018 |
| Bottle Sizes | 75cl |
| Website | Meerlust Estate |
Meerlust Merlot is one of South Africa’s classic Merlot wines. It is made at Meerlust Estate, one of the oldest and most prestigious South African Wineries in the Stellenbosch wine region.
Meerlust has a long history and the Myburgh family have been making wine at the estate for eight generations since 1756. Owner Hannes Myburgh (who studied winemaking at Geisenheim, Germany and Chateau Lafite) continues to maintain the family tradition to the art of fine wine making. The head winemaker since 2004 is Chris Williams, who has worked at Meerlust since 1995. Meerlust consists of 110 hectares of vineyards located 15 kilometres to the south of Stellenbosch and 5 kilometres away from False Bay. The Estate is ideally positioned for the production of characterful and complex wines – there are cooling ocean breezes and evening mists in the summertime which allow the grapes to ripen slowly and thereby gaining full, complex, rich and robust varietal characteristics. The soil is similar to those of Bordeaux, it is deep well-draining Hutton and Clovelly soil types (decomposing granite and clay), ideal for wine-growing offering the vines good drought resistance and conditions for producing concentrated, complex wines. The estate is arguably most famous for its Cape Blend, Rubicon.
Meerlust Merlot is produced 24 year old estate-grown Merlot plantings. The Merlot is planted on clay rich soils so that the roots can penetrate deep into the soils, looking for the moisture held there by the sponge-like clay from the winter rains and made available to the vine throughout the ripening season. The Cabernet Franc is planted on mainly well-drained, warmer, granite gravel soils and a small Petit Verdot vineyard is planted on north-facing slopes. Grapes are picked by hand and are manually selected prior to crushing. Individual parcels are all fermented separately before undergoing malolactic fermentation in 300 L barrels. After 8 months in barrel, the final components were selected and blended and matured for another 10 months in barrel for harmonization before bottling
Meerlust Merlot 2018 is 86% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot
meerlust merlot 2018 has a brick red colour with crimson edge. There are classic Merlot characteristics on nose with ripe plum and dark cherry notes underpinned by some dried herbs and oak spice. The palate is plush while still delicate on the finish, showing complex cherry tobacco flavours coupled with a fine acidity. This wine shows the intensity and concentration of the 2018 vintage and as with all Merlot’s from the estate, will age gracefully and will gain in complexity and suppleness of tannin for many years to come.
Drink Meerlust Merlot with red meats, game and strong cheeses.
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