Merlot



Analysis:

Alcohol: 14.5% | PH: 3.54 | Titratable acidity: 6.16 g/L


Bottling Date: August 2013


Cellaring: 5 - 8 Years


Tasting Notes:

An intriguing combination of complex spices, silky texture and juicy red fruits. On the nose there is dusty cocoa and vanilla notes, plum, spiced cherry, mulberry and blueberry with complex paprika, cinnamon and smoke in the background.The palate is full bodied and balanced by crisp acidity and ripe tannins. Dried blueberry, violet, juicy blackberry and mixed wild berries combine with dark chocolate and some spice and dried sage notes on the long finish.The seamless balance should mean that further complexity and elegance comes with 5-8 years in the bottle. Try with Moroccan spiced lamb or a rich lamb ragir with pappardelle. — Rhys Pender, Master of Wine

Wine Making:

The 2011 growing season turned out to be, on average, one of the cooler seasons in recent history However, with careful vineyard management to ensure low yield from our vineyards, the grapes reached high sugar levels, perfect acidity and low pH.The long hang time (i.e. late harvest date) resulted in optimal phenolic ripening of the grapes, which contributes vital characteristics to the color, texture and flavour of wine. Following fermentation, the batches were drained and pressed, with all parcels being kept separate throughout the process.The individual batches of Merlot were transferred to appropriate barrels for Malolactic (ML) fermentation. At the completion of ML, the wines were racked off the lees. The wine received further rackings over the next i6 months in the barrel cellar, in a mixture of French, American, Hungarian and Russian oaks.The wine was bottled unfiltered.

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