Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot

The richness of fatty meats like beef and lamb goes beautifully with the tannins. The combination of the two results in the Cabernet Merlot providing a smoother mouthfeel. Slow cooker beef pot roast is not just easy to cook but makes for an ideal partner with the blend!

From selected vineyards in the prime red wine-growing area of the Devon Valley near Stellenbosch. : Mediterranean - summers are warm and dry, whilst sea breezes from the nearby False Bay cool the vineyards in the afternoons. The winters are wet and cold with a high average rainfall.

The wine was racked and matured in new 225l oak barrels (80% French, 20% American) for 12 months. After barrel maturation, the wine was blended (60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot), fined and bottled.

The grapes are hand-harvested at optimal ripeness. They are then destalked, crushed and fermented for 7 days on their skins in open fermenting tanks. The average fermentation temperature is 25-30° C. After fermentation, the skins are pressed in traditional basket presses. The free run and pressed juices are combined and Malolactic fermentation spontaneously takes place in the tank.

Seymour Pritchard bought the 10-hectare farm, Malvern Heights, in 1969 from Colonel JW Billingham, who had named the farm after the rolling hills around Malvern in his native England. When winemaking came into Seymour’s sights in the mid-1980’s, France was still the epicentre of the wine universe. He then added some “French Flair” to the name and changed it to Clos Malverne, due to the homestead on the farm being reminiscent of a Clos in France.