Spier Private Collection Merlot 2009

Appearance: Intense dark colour with youthful ruby rim.
Flavours: Intense fruit reminding of black cherry, cranberry and a touch of mint. Full, dense palate with lingering silky tannins and a long finish.

Serve with slow simmered oxtail and roasted potatoes.

variety : Merlot [ 100% Merlot ]
winery : Spier Wine Farm
winemaker : Johan Jordaan
wine of origin : Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 14 % vol  rs : 2.4 g/l  pH : 3.65  ta : 6.0 g/l  
type : Red  style : Dry  body : Full  taste : Fragrant   wooded
pack : Bottle  size : 0  closure : Cork  

AWARDS
International Wine Challenge 2012 - Silver Medal
Decanter World Wine Awards 2012 - Commended
Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2012 - Gold Medal
Concours Mondial 2011 - Gold Medal

ageing : Well balanced and integrated oak delivers a dense, layered wine with great ageing potential.

in the vineyard : An exceptional vintage that is known for rich extracted wine with lower alcohol and balanced, integrated tannins.  Even budding and slow ripening due to some cool nights and average to warm days, resulting in great colour and phenolic ripeness. 
Vineyard: 9 – 14 year old vines planted south-west facing slopes. Combination of dry land and supplementary drip irrigation.
Terroir: Soil: Decomposed granite
Average Temperature: Winter: 10° - 17°; Summer: 14° - 28° C
Proximity to ocean: 12km
Annual Rainfall: 750mm

about the harvest: Hand harvested and pre-cooled in 8 – 10 kg lug boxes.

in the cellar : Bunch sorted, de-stemmed and then berry sorted to take out green, pink and raisin berries. Special emphasis was put on berry size to retain the smaller berries with larger skin to juice ratio for maximum concentration of flavour and extract. The wine was fermented in open-top fermenters (1 ton) for 10days at 24° – 26° C. MLF and maturation took place in 300L French oak barrels for 20 months. Barrel selections delivered the final product for this fantastic wine.

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