Merlot - Landskroon

Rich and full-bodied with a delicious flavour of berry fruits supported by a touch of spice gained from aging in French oak barrels. An ideal accompaniment to red meats and roast chicken.  Serve at 16 - 19°C. This wine can be enjoyed now, but will continue to improve for several years.

CLIMATE: Winter Rainfall approximately 600mm per annum.  The estate is situated along the south western slopes of Paarl Mountain at an altitude of between 140 and 250 meters and benefits from cooling summer breezes from the Atlantic Ocean.

IRRIGATION: Limited irrigation of between 50 and 100mm is applied during drier summers in order to allow for optimum development and ripening of grapes.

SOILS: Vary from decomposed granites to well drained sandy loam with gravel underlays.

VINIFICATION:  Grapes were harvested at 25ºB, destemmed and transferred to open and closed stainless steel fermentation tanks. After the addition of selected yeast, the juice, together with the skins, were allowed to ferment at controlled temperatures of 25ºC - 28ºC.  During fermentation, skins that tend to rise to the top were regularly pushed down to cool the cap and to optimise flavour and colour extraction.  At 5ºB, juice was drained from the skins and fermentation allowed to continue in closed tanks.  Any juice remaining in the skins were recovered with the use of a gentle tank press. After allowing for malolactic fermentation the wine was racked from the lees and transferred to 225 L oak barrels for maturation.

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS:
Alcohol/Vol: 14.00
Ph:  3.44
Acidity:  6.10
Residual Sugar: 3.70

VINEYARD INFO:
Age of Vines:   6 – 13 years
Clones:   MO 192, MO 348A, MO 193
Rootstock:  R99, R101 - 14
Vines per hectare:    3000
Soil:  Sandy loam and decomposed granite
Trellising:  Bush vines and cordon trellised
Yield:  7 – 8 tons per hectare
 
BARREL MATURATION:  12 months

TYPE OF WOOD:  15% New French oak, 13%
2nd fill French oak & 72% 3rd fill and older
French oak.