Cape Heights Merlot

3430560007053

Grilled lamb, pasta with a tomato-based sauce, chorizo and butterbean stew, spicy sausages and mash

A bright, juicy varietal Merlot. Attractively soft, creamy, chocolatey nose and a palate bathed in dusky spice. Lush, ripe and deep in hue, this is a plump and sensuous Merlot with flavors of hedgerow fruits and a fine, gently leafy finish.

Beautifully ripened Merlot grapes are sourced from long established vineyards on the Swartland/Wellington borders and also the Breede River Valley. Low rainfall, warm weather, mainly decomposed granite soils and low trellised vines add interesting complexity to the final wine. The grapes are picked in mid-March, de-stemmed and placed in open top fermenters. Turbo pipeage is done four times daily (while up to half of the sugar is fermented) then only twice daily to the end of fermentation ? this is a soft delicate way of wetting the cap and aerating the wine. Malolactic fermentation follows and extra depth is drawn from fermenting the wine on its lees which allows for soft extraction of tannins. Elegance is kept by letting the fruit speak and using a modest amount (10%) of oak.