Vergelegen Merlot 1999

The South African Trophy Wine Show 2002 - Bronze
Ripe plum with ruby rim. The nose shows ripe fruit flavours, spice and a touch of chocolate. The ripeness of the fruit is balanced by a fresh fruit acid and softwood fruit tannins. The aftertaste is long and lasting.

variety : Merlot [ 100% Merlot ]

winery : Vergelegen Wines

winemaker : Andre van Rensberg

wine of origin : Coastal

analysis : alc : 13.9 % vol rs : 3.1 g/l pH : 3.39 ta : 5.9 g/l

type : Red style : Dry wooded

pack : Bottle

AWARDS

Veritas 2002 - Bronze
The International Wine & Spirit Competition 2002 - Commended
The South African Trophy Wine Show 2002 - Bronze
Veritas 2001 - Silver

ageing : Accessible after one year bottle maturation but will last at least 6 â€“ 8 years.

in the vineyard : The grapes were sourced from Vergelegenâ€™s Stonepine, Kopland, Korhaan and lower Schaapenberg vineyards.

Merlot is planted on north to north westerly slopes but Korhaan and lower Schaapenberg are cooler sea facing vineyards. The vineyards are all dry land, but are carefully monitored to avoid stress full growing conditions. The vineyards were severely damaged by strong winds in 1999 leading to very low yields of 2 â€“ 3 tons/ha.

about the harvest: The fruit is always picked at peak physiological ripeness to avoid adding acid or hard tannins.

in the cellar : Fermentation took place at 28Â°C and lasted 7 days. Further maceration of 2 weeks took place before the new wine was run off into barrels for malolactic fermentation. The Merlot received 3 rackings in the first year to aid the evolution of the tannins. The wine was matured for 20 months in small French barrels.

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