River Garden Classique Merlot 2018

ageing : This vintage can be enjoyed up to 2023 but will reach its best drinking potential towards the end of 2021 and with optimum cellaring only peak towards the end of 2022.

The preceding three years has been the driest in recorded history in the South African Wine producing regions. However, the hot, dry weather kept the vineyards largely disease and pest-free and while December and January were hot – hitting 35°C at times – there were no intense heatwaves and the end of the growing season grew cooler, leading to better colour and flavour in later ripening varieties (especially reds). We experienced thunderstorms during the flowering season in November and a severe thunder and hail storm during harvest in February. Thunder and lightning are full of nitrogen, which gets deposited in the vines making them lush and green, in turn, that helped with the overall state of our vines and ripening in a very difficult and dry season. Due to our unique topography and high rainfall we had enough water for all the normal requirements of our vines during and after harvest. Due to the dry season, the crop levels were a little bit less than normal, but our overall quality is deemed very high as much of the loss in overall volume was due to smaller berries and bunches which, conversely, should lead to a greater concentration of flavour and colour in the 2018 wines

The harvest dates were February – March 2018.