Meerlust Merlot, Stellenbosch

Description

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. Buy now at Fareham Wine Cellar.

Meerlust Estate & The Myburgh Family

Meerlust Estate has a long history: 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 of the art of fine wine-making. The modern era began in 1975 when Hannes’ father Nico, first produced a Cabernet Sauvignon which won the overall trophy at the South African Championship Wine Show. This wine was joined by their most famous wine, the Meerlust Rubicon Cape blend, when the 1980 vintage was released in 1984.

The head winemaker from 2004 was Chris Williams, who had worked at Meerlust since 1995. Chris appointed his successor,  winemaker Altus Treurnicht, in 2018. He is assisted in the cellar by a proficient cellar team and works jointly with viticulturist Izak Basson

Meerlust Estate Vineyards

The Meerlust plantings 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 gain full, complex, rich and robust varietal characteristics.

The soil is similar to those of Bordeaux; they are 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.

Meerlust Merlot Vineyards

Meerlust Merlot is produced from two estate plantings:

Compagniesdrift – The soils from this warm north-facing slope are predominantly formed from weathered granite. The wines originating from this granitic hilltop are expressive and bold in structure, mainly due to the coarse gravelly texture and sufficient soil depth to promote long and even ripening.

The Quarry – The extremely rocky terrain consisting of greywacke with interbedded shales provides a unique substrate for vines. Shallow-rooted vines on this cool and windswept foot slope produce wines with characteristic red fruit and exceptional length, detail and precision.

Meerlust Merlot 2021 Winemaking

• This vintage is 100% Merlot
• Grapes are hand-picked and manually selected before crushing.
• The individual parcels are fermented separately.
• Undergoes malolactic fermentation in 300 L barrels.
• Aged for 6 months in barrel, followed by selection and blending of final components.
• Matured for an additional 12 months in barrel, 40% new French oak, before bottling