Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Merlot 2008

Name: Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Merlot 2008
Brand: Fleur du Cap Unfiltered
SKU: 25378

The wine has a rich and dark garnet appearance with a youthful brim. On the nose, the wine has a complex balance with red berry and cherry and elegant oak aromas of vanilla and cedar. These follow onto the palate with chocolate and christmas cake flavours adding complexity. Balanced, integrated oak flavours complement the palate and ensure a soft, velvety texture that lingers on the finish.

This succulent Merlot is perfect with Parma ham, roast lamb kebabs and a hearty oxtail meal. An ideal accompaniment to robust Italian dishes.

variety : Merlot [ 100% Merlot ]

winery : Fleur du Cap

winemaker : Justin Corrans

wine of origin : Somerset West

analysis : alc : 13.8 % vol rs : 1.76 g/l pH : 3.5 ta : 5.95 g/l

type : Red style : Dry body : Medium taste : Fruity wooded

pack : Bottle closure : Cork

AWARDS

2011 International Wine and Spirit Competition - Best in Class Silver
2010 Veritas - Gold Award

in the vineyard : Made from superior grapes meticulously chosen from prized vineyard blocks in the Cape Coastal region, Fleur du Cap Unfiltered wines are shaped in perfect harmony with nature. Handpicked in the vineyard and handcrafted in the cellar, these new generation wines capture the highly sought-after qualities of varietal character and terroir. Sedimentation, racking and fining as opposed to filtration maximise the preservation of colour and flavour elements resulting in wines that abound with fruit and flavour.

Terroir
Climate, soil, altitude and slope orientation are chosen to capture as much varietal character as possible. Climate is mild with south and east facing slopes offering natural protection against late afternoon sun. Cooling breezes from the Atlantic Ocean ensure rich, slow-growing crops. Soils are predominantly medium textured and well-drained with good water holding capacity.

Vineyards
(Viticulturist: Bennie Liebenberg)
The grapes were selected from two vineyards; one is situated in Somerset West and Bottelary. The Bottelary vineyard is on a north-west facing slope, 12-years old and produced a yield of 8 tons/ha. It was trellised on the 3-wire Perold system.

The Somerset West vineyard is north-west facing on duplex soil with a good water retention capacity. The vines received supplementary irrigation through drippers and are trellised on a 5-wire hedge system.The vines from both vineyards received supplementary irrigation at the varaison. Pest and disease control was implemented according to South African subjective IPW standards.

about the harvest: The grapes were handpicked at 25° Balling at the end of February.

in the cellar : The juice was inoculated with a specially selected yeast and fermented on the skins at 28ºC for 8 days. Flavour and tannin extraction was evaluated daily and performed by pump-over and delestage. After fermentation, the wine was drained off and grapes were gently pressed with the hard pressings excluded. The wine was placed in new French oak barrels where malolactic fermentation occurred. The wine was matured for 16 months andwas racked numerous times to enable it to be was racked numerous times to enable it to be bottled without filtration.

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