Elgin Vintners Elgin Noir

100% Merlot

W.O. Elgin

Terroir Elgin is the coolest wine region in South Africa. The benefit of cooler climates is that the grape cluster stays connected to its roots for longer, developing more characteristics and achieving physiological ripeness more gradually with lower sugar levels and consequently lower alcohols. The resultant wines leave one with an impression of delicacy, but also power and insistence over warmer-climate examples, which show bolder but less-persistent flavours. The vineyards have an altitude of 305 m, which makes this the 4th highest elevation in South Africa, considering that we are also next to the cold Atlantic ocean this has a profound influence on day/night temperatures, prevailing south-easterly winds. The South-Easter can bring a cooling respite to the vineyards of Elgin it can also bring extensive cloud cover that gets restricted by the mountains and extends back over the region, meaning that not only is sunlight blocked out but temperatures are also reduced and the ripening of grapes is slowed. In extreme cases, about four to five times a year, the wind is strong enough and the clouds thick enough to enable precipitation known locally as a Black South- Easter, dumping quite large amounts of rain often throughout the day. On top of this, on calmer warmer days, cool coastal breezes get sucked in from the sea as the warmed land air begins to rise which reduces the temperature very quickly in the afternoon and into the night. This helps maintain the acid levels in the grapes, leading to an extended ripening period on the vine with natural balance and complex and powerful flavours.

Vinification The Merlot grapes originating from two vineyard sites were destemmed but not crushed upon arrival at the winery. The grapes in stainless steel red wine fermenters were only inoculated after three days. After a slow fermentation of 20 days, the dry fermented grapes were pressed. Thereafter malolactic fermentation was completed in the tank. The wine was split into two batched. Half transferred to 225 lit French oak barriques where it matured for 12 months, and the other half were aged in stainless steel tank with special selected French oak staves for 12 months. After bottling, further maturation was allowed in bottling before labeling and release.

Alc: 14.00 % Residual Sugar: 2.80 Acidity: 6.00 pH: 3.35