Aromas of red cherry as well as mulberry fruit flavours, plums and cigar box greet you on the nose. The flavours from the nose follow through to the juicy palate with a smooth, silky elegance on the finish. The complex palate will awaken your taste buds and leave you wanting more of this big, bold wine. Decant for maximum enjoyment.
Limited Release Merlot 2017
R345.00
Harvest Description
The preceding two winters to the 2017 vintage has been the driest in recorded history on Lourensford. However, due to enough cold weather during winter the vines did go into proper dormancy with budding which occurred normally. We also experienced one of the coolest and driest summers in history with moderate temperatures and cool evenings which resulted in slow and even ripening of the berries. With good canopy management and perfect ripening conditions we were able to bring the grapes in to the cellar at just the desired time. This resulted in refined wines with elegance, good natural acidity with depth and structure. The fruit were hand – picked early in the morning to protect the very delicate flavours and placed into 5 ton fermenters with regular, manual punch downs before the grapes were pressed and transferred to barrels for malo-lactic fermentation and ageing.
In The Vineyard
Wine of Origin: Stellenbosch
Altitude: 168m above sea level, and 8km from the cool sea breezes of False Bay
Age of vines: 16 years
Rootstock: 101-14 Mgt
Clones: MO347, MO343
Slopes: Situated on South-Western facing slopes
Row direction: North-South
Soil type: Decomposed granite, Oakleaf and Tukulu formations
Analysis
Alcohol: 14.5 vol %
pH: 3.41
Total acid: 6.0 g/l
RS: 2.9 g/l
Closure: Hand selected quality cork
Wine Information
Cultivar: 100% Merlot
Wood: Matured for 19 months in 300L French oak barrels of which 65% were new. Only the finest barrels were selected
Maturation Potential
This vintage can be enjoyed up to 2024, but will reach its best drinking potential towards the end of 2020 and with optimum cellaring will peak only towards the end of 2021
Food Pairing
The Limited Release Merlot 2017 pairs exceptionally well with substantial foods including grilled or barbequed lamb, beef, kudu, ostrich and springbok.
Decant and serve this wine between 14-16 C for the best results.
