Accolades
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 notes of oyster shell and kelp typical to our Cabernets’. Still young and intense, the palate is structured and packed with ripe blueberries and wonderfully elegant tannins. Dark chocolate and salted liquorice on the finish. This is a classic and elegant vintage and will provide great complexity with further maturation.
Ageing Potential
10 - 15 years, provided wine is stored in ideal cellar conditions.
In The Vineyard
This Cabernet Sauvignon is a true expression of the variety as grown on the Meerlust estate and draws fruit from our four distinctive terroirs. Each terroir provides a unique element to the final blend.
Compagniesdrift - The soils from this warm north facing slope are predominantly formed from weathered granite. The wines originating from this granitic hilltop are expressive and bold in structure, mainly due to the coarse gravelly texture and sufficient soil depth to promote long and even ripening.
River Terraces - Sandy soils laced with rounded river stones allow for excellent root proliferation. This area of the Estate experiences the greatest shift between day and night temperatures, promoting flavour development of these delicate and fruit forward wines.
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.
Lowlands - The remains of an ancient estuary are marked by clay-rich soils from deeply weathered greywacke and shales. The wines from this generally cool south facing, clay-rich terroir is typically smooth and silky in texture with prominent black fruit.
About The Harvest
Good rainfall during the winter and long uninterrupted cold spells meant reserves where adequately replenished and cold requirement easily met. A very dry and hot spring followed by a moderate growing season resulted in even budding and slower than normal, even ripening – especially beneficial for our late ripening varieties.
In The Cellar
The wine is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and is made up from three very distinct parcels on the farm. 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 for further 12 months of maturation. 50 % new French oak was used in the maturation.
