Meerlust Rubicon, Stellenbosch

Description

Meerlust Rubicon is one of the most famous Cape Classic Blends produced by one of the oldest and most prestigious South African Wineries. Available to buy now in bottles and 1.5 Litre Magnums 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 winemaker since 2018 is Altus Treurnicht. He is assisted in the cellar by a proficient cellar team and works jointly with viticulturist Izak Basson.

Meerlust Estate Vineyards

Meerlust Estate 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. The cooling ocean breezes and evening mists in the summertime allow the grapes to ripen slowly and thereby gain full, complex, rich and robust varietal characteristics.

The soils are 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. The estate is mainly planted with red varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir and a little Petit Verdot, with some Chardonnay for white wines.

Meerlust Rubicon Vineyards

Red grapes for Meerlust Rubicon come from four distinct terroirs on the estate:

• Die Kop: Warm, north-facing slope with weathered granite soils, producing bold, expressive wines due to coarse, gravelly texture and deep soil for even ripening.
• River Terraces: Sandy soils with river stones enable robust root growth, with significant day-night temperature swings enhancing delicate, fruit-forward wines.
• Quarry: Rocky greywacke and shale terrain with shallow-rooted vines on a cool, windswept slope, yielding precise, red-fruit-driven wines with exceptional length.
• Lowlands: Clay-rich soils from weathered greywacke and shales on a cool, south-facing terroir, crafting smooth, silky wines with prominent black fruit.

Meerlust Rubicon Winemaking

• After harvest, each grape variety was fermented separately.
• The wine then undergoes malolactic fermentation in 300-litre barrels and large Foudre.
• After 8 months in the barrel, all of the components were blended
• The wine is then matured for another 10 months in barrel for harmonisation before bottling.

Rubicon 2018 Compostion

Meerlust Rubicon 2018 is a classically proportioned blend of:

• 67% Cabernet Sauvignon
• 19% Merlot
• 10% Cabernet Franc
• 4% Petit Verdot