Merlot

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Handpicked fruit was destalked, crushed and fermented in conical-shaped stainless steel tanks. The ‘aerated pump-over’ method was used to gently pump the fermenting juice across the skin cap four times a day for one-hour periods at a time, ensuring soft tannin extraction.

The winter season started earlier than usual, and March was a very wet month. Véraison started in the first week of January. Harvest was also early – 11 days earlier than the previous year – and stopped fourteen days earlier than in 2022. The temperatures were moderate with few heat waves. The bunches and berries were much smaller and compact this year. The Merlot vineyards are planted on Oak Leaf soils at 200 metres above sea level on the slopes of the Tygerberg 7 kilometres from, and in sight of, the Atlantic Ocean. The age of the vines ranges from 15 to 18 years and an estimated 2,300 vines yield a crop of 7 to 8 tons per hectare per vintage.

After fermentation the skins were pressed, racked and matured in 15% new French oak barrels and 85% in seasoned French oak barrels.