Merlot

We follow a traditional winemaking philosophy which means indigenous yeast fermentation, no adjustment to acid or alcohol, maturation in seasoned oak barrels and bottling by hand with little or no filtration.

Winter temperatures leading up to the 2020 harvest were moderate, with below average rainfall. Fortunately, we had a wet Spring which prompted the vines to grow strong and develop a decent size crop. Early season was marked by erratic temperatures with several heat spikes. These factors made farming quite tough with increased pressure from disease and insects. The vineyard team worked hard to prepare a healthy crop. Mid-Summer temperatures were moderate, although we did experience a short heat wave in January. This was followed by a gale-force South-East wind which hammered the vineyards. This resulted in the grapes ripening quickly. Although we started picking at a normal time, by 10 March we had picked all the grapes for our wines.

This wine spent 19 months maturing in seasoned French oak barrels before being bottled by hand without fining and only light filtration on 28 October 2021.