De Grendel Merlot 2019
Red Wine from Cape Town, South Africa
De Grendel Merlot 2019
Red Wine from Cape Town, South Africa
The 2019 vintage will be remembered as one that followed the most severe drought in South Africa during 2018. In the second half of 2018, supporting rainfall ensured good soil moisture with cool and moderate ripening and harvesting conditions for 60% of the intake of the 2019 vintage. The 2019 cropwas medium sized,resulting in some excellentwines.
Profile:
Beautiful deep ruby colour with a purple rim. The nose presents a bouquet of blackberries, black cherries and mocha which follows through to a velvety-smooth palate with finelyintegrated tannins. Wellrounded with a lingering cedarwood finish.
Food Pairing: Roasted vegetables, pastas, charcuterie
What’s In It: 100% Merlot
How It Was Made:
Viticulture: The Merlot vineyards are planted on Hutton Oak Leaf soils at 200 meters above sea level on the slopes of the Tygerberg 7 kilometers from, and in sight of, the Atlantic Ocean. The age of the vines ranges from 14 to 17 years and an estimated 2,300 vines yield a crop of 7 to 8 tons per hectare per vintage.
Vinification: Handpicked fruit was destalked, crushed and fermented in stainless steel tanks. The ‘aerated pump-over’ method was used to gently pump the fermenting juice overthe skin cap four times a day for one-hour periods at a time, ensuring soft tannins. After fermentation the wine was pressed, racked and matured in 1/3 new French Oak, 1/3 in second fill FrenchOak and 1/3 in third fill French Oak for 13 months.