Wine Waterkloof, Circumstance Merlot, 2016
While few South African Merlots are made in a full-bodied wine, this Waterkloof Circumstance stands as the exception. With this wine, you can expect a range of concentrated fruits, fine tannins and great length. The wine's body and intensity make this wine stand out as a one of a kind.
Characteristics
Wine Style:
Red - A robust red with various red fruit aromas. The tannins are well integrated and lingers on the palate.
Tasting Notes:
Light red berries, sour plums and some floral aromas greet and entice the nose. Elegant, bright acidity with juicy fruit on the palate. Great length with fine tannins and balanced acidity on the finish. Pairs well with duck and lamb dishes.
Gastronomy:
Excellent food wine to be served with lamb, duck, rabbit and BBQ meat dishes. Try it with Asian cuisine and spicy food - it is a taste sensation.
Vineyards:
The block used for our Circumstance Merlot is planted on the south-west facing slopes of the Schapenberg, at an altitude of 240 to 260 meters above sea level, and a mere 4 km from the Atlantic Ocean. Strong south-easterly winds help control growth and crop yield. Soils are of sandstone origin with medium size stones, helping with both drainage and moisture retention. Production was approximately 6 tons/ha.
Ageing method:
18 months in French oak and 12 months in wooden fermenters.
Winemaking process:
Grapes were destemmed, hand sorted and placed into our open-top wooden fermenters via gravity. Natural fermentation started spontaneously by utilising the wild yeasts present on the fruit. Punch downs (twice a day) were used during fermentation to ensure a soft and slow, colour and tannin extraction. The wine spent 30 days on the skins to help integrate the tannins and stabilise the colour. The skins were separated from the juice through a gentle basket pressing. The wine went through malolactic fermentation in barrel and was then aged in new (15%), second and third fill (85%) French barrels for 18 months. We then aged the wine for another year in our wooden fermenters to ensure a wine with silky soft tannins. The wine received no fining, which allowed the grape to be purely expressed in the wine. Only sulphur was added and no other additions, such as tartaric acid or enzymes were allowed.
