Stellenbosch Merlot

Crushed and de-stemmed fruit, pumped over during ferment.

The 2023 vintage marked another vintage influenced by the La Niña weather phenomenon. The Autumn of 2022 was dry with below average and variable rainfall throughout the Winter. Spring too was dry, but cool, however, a massive cold front in December brought much needed rain, but increased disease pressure. This lead up to harvest set the scene for a challenging vintage and lower crop sizes. The early heatwaves experienced in January, as opposed to usually occurring in February, brought the red cultivars into line with their recent average picking dates. Early ripening red cultivars such as Merlot and Malbec were largely in the winery by the time torrential rains arrived in late February. These rains continued through March, causing the wettest March since 1987 on the estate. The result of these rains was the loss of a large amount of the Cabernet Sauvignon fruit to disease. A mixed result for the vintage with good early reds and much lighter styles of wine produced from later ripening cultivars. Rigorous blending and barrel selection of only the best parcels of wine ensured that top quality wines were bottled under the Rustenberg label despite this challenging vintage.

Aged 15 months in 10% new and 90% 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th fill French 225L barrels.