Plaisir de Merle Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

Name: Plaisir de Merle Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Brand: Plaisir de Merle
SKU: 42735

Colour: Dark ruby red Bouquet: Aromatic nose with red berry fruit, sweet spice and hints of vanilla and oak. Taste: Full-bodied, fruit-driven wine with blackberry fruit, cedar notes, dark chocolate and sweet notes of vanilla. Firm, ripe tannin structure on palate with lingering sweet red berry fruit.

Very versatile, this wine would best complement all red meat dishes.

variety : Cabernet Sauvignon [ 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec, 11% Petit Verdot ]

winery : Plaisir Wine Estate

winemaker : Niel Bester

wine of origin : Paarl

analysis : alc : 14.25 % vol rs : 2.7 g/l pH : 3.61 ta : 6.0 g/l

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

pack : Bottle size : 750ml closure : Cork

AWARDS

2015 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB) - Gold Medal

ageing : This wine will mature well for ten years and more.

Established by the French Huguenots in 1693 on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountains between Paarl and Franschhoek, Plaisir de Merle is a rare gem. A Distell showpiece, this 974-hectare estate in Simondium, Paarl, has earned international acclaim for its white and red wines. About 400 hectares are planted with a variety of noble grape cultivars such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz and Malbec, and an area of only about 80 hectares of prime vineyards has been set aside for the Plaisir de Merle cellar. Winemaker Niel Bester attributes the success of his wines to being able to work with great fruit coming from a very unique terrain and the invaluable input from his viticulture team.

in the vineyard : The diversity of the soils, slopes and elevations is closely linked with the quality of Plaisir de Merle wines. Situated on the east and northeast facing slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain, Plaisir de Merle is bordered by the towns of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl. The vineyards for this wine, between 12 and 23 years of age, are all located on the Plaisir de Merle farm on south-eastern slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain planted in weathered, decomposed granite soils where high mountain peaks shade the vineyards from the hot, late afternoon sun. This slows down ripening, resulting in wines with a very typically rich fruit complexity and well ripened tannins.

Viticulturist: Freddie le Roux

about the harvest: The grapes were hand-picked between 24.6° and 25.7° Balling.

in the cellar : At the cellar the grapes were sorted, destalked, cooled to 16 ˚ C and pumped into stainless steel tanks and inoculated 24 hours later. During fermentation at 24 ˚ C, the juice was pumped daily over the skins at regular intervals to extract colour, tannins and flavour. Once fermentation was completed, the wine was left on the skins for a further 7 to 9 days to macerate. The wine was racked off the skins and malolactic fermentation was completed, partially in barrels and in tanks. The wine was then racked and transferred back to French oak barrels (60% new) to mature for 12 to 16 months. Wines from two different Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards were selected and small percentages of Malbec and Petit Verdot were added to complete the final blend. It had only one coarse filtration prior to bottling.

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