Meerlust Red Blend 2019
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Robert
Parker
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The wine has an intense, dark purple color with a violet rim. Bright and vivacious in the glass, very youthful. The nose is expressive with powerful cassis, plum, exotic spice and hints of floral aromas. On the palate the wine is medium bodied with intense flavors of crushed black fruit, cassis, vanilla and dark chocolate. The tannins are very soft and silky with fresh acidity and a focused, linear flavor profile. The wine has a persistent and long lasting aftertaste.
Complements venison, game, pot roast, and noble cheese.
Blend: 43% Caberbet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sadly, there is no Rubicon in 2019, as all the parts were declassified. Thankfully, the 2019 Meerlust Red was blended from 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. The nose is juicy and ripe with fresh red fruit tones, turned earth and soft brown baking spices before showing delightfully dusty flowers that lift the bouquet. Medium to full-bodied, this is rich, precise and focused, offering a balanced structure with a firm tannic edge, while flavors of red cherry skin and spiced plums sway over the long, lingering and spicy finish. The wine aged in 46% new French oak for 17 months. 180,000 bottles were produced. This may be the best bottling of Meerlust Red yet!
Other Vintages
2020- Decanter
Meerlust is one of South Africa's most famous and historical wine estates. The land where the farm is now situated was originally owned by a powerful and wealthy free burgher named Henning Huising. After his death in 1713 the estate passed through many hands until it was bought in 1756 by Johannes Albertus Myburgh - and has remained in the Myburgh family ever since.
Nicholaas Myburgh (7th generation of the Myburgh family, and father of present owner Hannes Myburgh) took over the farm in 1950, but the condition of the property had declined severely from its 18th century splendor. Nicolaas set about an extensive restoration of both the buildings and the vineyards. One of his first projects was the construction of a damn that allows for irrigation in exceptionally dry years, but is usually used only after the vintage. He also replanted the vineyards with mainly red varietals.
The farm is approximately 15 kilometers outside Stellenbosch, and is the Stellenbosch estate nearest the Indian Ocean (the name Meerlust is of German origin, and translates to "pleasure of the sea"). The cooling breezes off False Bay allow a slower, steadier ripening period for the grapes. This translates to less loss of fruit aromas, and there is also a lesser risk of a crop being ruined in the event of a sudden, dramatic rise in temperature.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
South Africa’s most famous wine-producing district, Stellenbosch, surrounds the historic town with the same name; fine winemaking here dates back to the late 1600s. Its valleys of granite, sandstone and alluvial loam soils between the towering blue-grey mountains of Stellenbosch, Simonsberg and Helderberg have the capacity to produce beautiful wines from many varieties. The climate is warm Mediterranean, tempered by the cool Atlantic air of nearby False Bay.
Perhaps most well-known for its Pinotage and Bordeaux blends, Stellenbosch also produces noteworthy wines from Syrah, Chenin blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc. The district’s wards—Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills and Simonsberg-Stellenbosch—all produce distinctive wines from vines with relatively low yields.