2005 Merlot Reserve, Thelema
(6x75cl)
| Product Code: | 37206105 |
| Description: | 2005 Merlot Reserve, Thelema |
| Case Size: | 6x75cl |
| Producer: | Thelema Mountain Vineyards |
| Region: | Stellenbosch |
| Country: | South Africa |
| Alc. By Vol.: | 14 |
Grape Varieties
| 100% | Merlot |
Ageing Potential:
Drink on release, expected to peak during 2008.
Food Matching Note:
Drink with full flavoured dishes such as slow braised lamb shank, roasted wild boar or duck.
Tasting Note:
With enormous depth of colour, this wine is almost black in hue and is bursting with pure and concentrated blackcurrant aromas. The palate is full bodied and chunky with a well delineated structure of integrated, fine grained tannin and ripe toasty oak encasing the fruit flavours right through to the rounded, lengthy finish.
Vinification Note:
Thelema's Merlot Reserve is only made in exceptional vintages. Only the finest parcels are selected from established vines which were planted in 1988 in Hutton soils (decomposed granite) at a density of 3200 vines per ha. Vineyard practices include vertical hedge trellising, spur pruning to 2 buds every 12cms and supplementary drip irrigation. Harvesting was by hand from 19th February to 2nd March and yielded 7t/ha. The whole bunches were de-stalked, hand sorted and crushed into stainless steel tanks where alcoholic fermentation took place at 28 degrees C with pump overs for 6 days and a further 5 days maceration before 100% malo-lactic fermentation and pressing into 100% new French barriques where ageing was for 20 months before bottling.
Detailed Vinification Note:
Merlot clones: 192
Root stocks: R99
Grape sugar: 25.0 degrees Balling
Grape acidity: 6 g/l
Grape pH: 3,6
Yeasts: Bordeaux red
Residual Sugar: 1,4 g/l
Wine pH: 3,45
Wine acidity: 6.1 g/l
Alcohol: 14,11%