Stablemate Merlot 2020 Excelsior Estate

The nose shows lovely ripe cherry characters, backed up by smoky coffee and spice notes. The palate is soft, yet has god structure and is drinking beautifully now. Perfect with roasted meats and game.

The 2019 vintage was well known as the drought vintage in the Western Cape. The Robertson region was no different and Excelsior only had 50% of the normal irrigation water available. Fortunately, near perfect growing conditions were experienced. The days were warm and dry and cool nights were experienced throughout the growing season, resulting in a very healthy crop of very good quality. Some cultivars did experience the worst frost damage in 30 years, but this influenced quantity over quality. 45% of the total wine was aged in a mixture of French and American oak for a period of 6 months, whilst the remaining wine was aged in stainless steel tanks.

 2020

 14.5% Abv

 Merlot

 Contains Sulphites