Meerlust is the winery that put South Africa on the world wine map when it made the Rubicon, a Bordeaux style blend in the 1980s and the rest, as they say, is history.
The pack contains:
- 3 x Meerlust Pinot Noir 2015
- 3 x Meerlust Pinot Noir 2017
- 3 x Meerlust Rubicon 2015
- 3 x Meerlust Rubicon 2017
- Meerlust Pinot Noir 2015: 2015 was one of the best vintages for Pinot Noir on the estate. Grapes handpicked and selected in the coolness of morning before partial de-stemming and crushing. Intense, vivid translucent youthful purple-ruby appearance. The wine shows pronounced lifted perfume on the nose with red berry fruit, musk, wild mushrooms and hints of savoury richness and spice and a clean vibrant minerality. . On the palate there are very pure Pinot fruit flavours on entry with red cherry and musk flavours coupled with fresh acidity. The wine has layered complexity with great elegance and finesse. Very fine lacy, almost powdery tannin on the finish.
- Meerlust Pinot Noir 2017: Intense, vivid translucent youthful purple-ruby appearance. The wine shows pronounced lifted perfume on the nose with red berry fruit, musk, wild mushrooms and hints of savoury richness and spice and a clean vibrant minerality. On the palate there are very pure Pinot fruit flavours on entry with red cherry and musk flavours coupled with fresh acidity. The wine has layered complexity with great elegance and finesse. Very fine lacy, almost powdery tannin on the finish.
- Meerlust Rubicon 2015: This showcase wine is showing all of the hallmarks of a great, classic vintage of Rubicon. Incredibly dense purple-ebony core with very slight gradation at the rim. The nose is brooding, dark bramble fruit, cassis, plum, incense and liquorice, it is still very tightly coiled, slowly offering cigar box, crushed stone and subtle oak spice. On the palate the wine is concentrated yet restrained with dark fruit flavours of pastille, mulberry and dark chocolate, all held in an intricate lattice of polished sleek grape tannin. Still very young yet approachable, this Rubicon promises a long future of maturation and enjoyment.
- Meerlust Rubicon 2017: A classic vintage of this iconic Cape wine. Very deep, youthful colour, and intense almost purple hue. Quintessential Rubicon nose with violets, ripe plum, cedar wood, fennel and intense spiciness. A typical liquorice note also evident on the nose. Still young and intense, promising further maturation potential. The palate is full bodied, structured but packed with fresh dark fruit and rounded, linear tannins promising long beneficial maturation. A stand out vintage of Rubicon displaying all the charm of a perfect vintage from mature vines.The 2017 vintage was surprising in that from the very beginning it was similar to the superb 2015. A cold winter in 2016 followed but a warm spring ensured early and evening bud break. Coupled with this, most of the vineyards over 2 decades old, ensuring perfect balance between vigour and crop size. The 2017 Rubicon is a classically proportioned blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16 % Merlot, 12 % Cabernet Franc and 4 % Petit Verdot, each variety was fermented separately before undergoing malolactic fermentation in 300 L barrels, 60% new French Nevers and 40% second fill casks. After 8 months in barrel, the components were blended and given another 10 months in barrel for harmonization before bottling.