Accolades
2023 Investec Trophy Wine Show - Bronze
2023 Tim Atkin South African report - 93 points
2023 Jancis Robinson - Score 15
2024 Platter Guide - 93 points
Tasting Notes
Very deep, youthful colour with an intense garnet hue. The nose shows dark and red fruit mixed with a slight mint note. Still young and intense, the palate is structured and packed with ripe blue berries and wonderfully elegant tannins. Dark chocolate and salted liquorice on the finish. This is a powerful vintage despite the challenging season and will provide great complexity with further maturation.
Ageing Potential
10 - 15 years, provided wine is stored in ideal cellar conditions
In The Vineyard
The wine is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and is made up from two very distinct parcels on the farm.
About The Harvest
The 2019 season will be remembered for the difficult growing conditions with no Rubicon being released. The carry-over from the 3-year drought was still evident in what was a much smaller harvest. Due to weather conditions, budding was uneven and bunches loose. The growing season itself was relatively cool during the day and night, with triple the amount of rainfall as in the previous two seasons. Most of the blocks were harvested around the normal time, with the exception of later red cultivars such as this Cabernet Sauvignon. The harvest season was characterised by regular rain showers with more than 100 mm recorded from January to March.
In The Cellar
Blocks were hand-picked and vinified separately and racked straight to barrel for 6 months where the components underwent malolactic fermentation. After this initial time in barrel, the final selection for the wine was made, the components racked and blended together, and the final wine was moved back to barrel and Foudré for a further 12 months of maturation. 70 % new French oak was used in the maturation. Due to the fact that no Rubicon was released in 2019, the best Cabernet Sauvignon components were selected for this blend.
Additional Information
This Cabernet Sauvignon is a true expression of the variety as grown on the Meerlust estate and draws fruit from one of our four distinct terroirs namely - The Quarry - The extremely rocky terrain consisting of greywacke with interbedded shales provides a unique substrate for vines. Shallow rooted vines on this cool and windswept foot slope leads to wines with characteristic red fruit with exceptional length, detail, and precision.
