Lourensford Estate Merlot 2014

The wine has a brilliant colour - deep, dark and intense. Aromas of concentrated red berry fruit and plums greet you on the nose along with subtle hints of tobacco leaf. The pallet is dense, structured and supported by a smooth elegance and flavours of mulberry, dark chocolate and juicy dark berry fruit that will linger.

Versatile when it comes to food pairing options but a big wine that will pair well with big foods. Steak, kudu,ostrich, venison pie - this wine can handle all well. It will go well with grilled or barbequed foods as the intense flavours of the wine latch on to the pronounced ‘browning’ flavours which develop with these cooking methods.

variety : Merlot [ 100% Merlot ]
winemaker : Hannes Nel
wine of origin : Stellenbosch
analysis : alc : 14.0 % vol  rs : 2.5 g/l  pH : 3.55  ta : 5.6 g/l  
type : Red  style : Dry  body : Full  taste : Fragrant   wooded
pack : Bottle  size : 0  closure : Screwcap  

ageing : This vintage can be enjoyed up to 2019 but will reach its best drinking potential toward the end of 2017 and will possibly peak only towards the end of 2018.

in the vineyard : 

Altitude: 168 above sea level
Age of vines: 12-13 years 
Rootstock: 101-14 Mgt
Clones: MO347
Slopes: South-East and South-Western facing slopes
Row direction: North-South
Soil type: Decomposed granite, Oakleaf and Tukulu formations

about the harvest: A cool and wet winter allowed vines to go into proper dormancy. We experienced lots of rain, thunder storms and floods in August & November. Luckily this did not affect the sensitive flowering and ripening stages too much. The thunder storms and rain resulted in good growth of the vines after budding. There were no severe South Easter winds at the start of summer which resulted in good budding & flowering of the vines as well as a record harvest. We experienced a fairly cool summer which resulted in slower ripening and the ability to harvest at lower sugar levels. With good canopy management and perfect harvest decisions we were able to bring the grapes into the cellar at the desired time. This resulted in refined wines with elegance and good natural acidity. The fruit were picked by hand early in the morning to protect the very delicate flavours and placed into 5 ton fermenters with regular, manual punch downs before the grapes were pressed and transferred to barrels for malo-lactic fermentation and ageing. The harvest dates were March – April 2014.

in the cellar : 

Cultivar: 100% Merlot Wood: Matured for 18 months in 300L French oak barrels of which 25% were new

MATURATION POTENTIAL This vintage can be enjoyed up to 2019 but will reach its best drinking potential toward the end of 2017 and will possibly peak only towards the end of 2018.

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OTHER VINTAGES

Merlot
Merlot
Merlot
Merlot
Merlot