Boschendal 1685 Merlot 2016

On the nose: Rich red cherry, blueberry and plum notes with a hint of dark chocolate. Good fruit intensity.
Palate: Rich red cherry plum and pronounced ripe mulberry flavours. An elegant cool-climate style of wine with intensity of fruit and length. Good natural balance between primary fruit aromas, colour and structure extraction, rounded and integrated by subtle oak aging from larger 300-litre barrels.

To buy our wines in South Africa, please click here

variety : Merlot [ 100% Merlot ]

winery : Boschendal Estate

winemaker : JC Bekker

wine of origin : Western Cape

analysis : alc : 14.0 % vol rs : 3.0 g/l pH : 3.5 ta : 5.8 g/l

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

pack : Bottle size : 750ml closure : Cork

ageing : The multi-layered complexity of this wine will develop over the following three to seven years.

in the vineyard : The grapes originated from various high-quality vineyard sites around Stellenbosch and Elgin and, when blended, these specific vineyards’ profiles provide the inherent nuances for the character of this wine. The vineyards ranged in age from six to 23 years old and were planted on a variety of soils. Shoot thinning, bunch thinning and green harvesting were all done in the vineyards to promote tannin ripeness and maximise the fruit aroma expression.

about the harvest: The vineyards were handpicked during March, and all the grapes and bunches were sorted in the vineyard to ensure that no green or unripe berries reached the winery. A further berry sorting was done at the winery just after crushing to ensure that only the most perfect berries reached the fermentation tanks.

in the cellar : Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks and every vineyard was handled differently to promote its individual unique natural terroir expression. Extended skin maceration was practiced on the wines originating from more robust soils, and these wines underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel. Grapes from the remaining cooler-climate vineyards were allowed to go through malolactic fermentation in stainless steel to promote the expressive blueberry notes associated with these sites and also to bring freshness to the mid-palate. The wine was aged in French oak barrels for 12 months. Of this, around 20% was new first-fill oak barrels.

email the winery

email this page

find our wines in :