Van de wijnmaker

The Glass Collection Merlot is a deep rich coloured wine. It displays intense dark fruit aromas and spicy plums with touches of spearmint on the edge. This Merlot shows tremendous concentration, richness and generous fruit on the palate with fine but well structured and balanced tannins to embrace it all.

Weather Conditions – Simonsberg, Stellenbosch

Flowering and berry set was good.
Vigorous growth happened due to high soil moisture content, which was a result of the wet winter, therefore more canopy management was required.
Rain in November and January meant that we needed less irrigation, but disease pressure was higher and stricter controls were needed.
Ideal dry and moderate conditions reigned during ripening in late January and February.
Cooler March helped with hang time on the vine.
Harvest was 1 week later than normal due to late cold winter.
Stellenbosch had one off the wettest seasons in years, but wine quality is exceptional.

Winemaking

The grapes were hand sorted and lightly crushed into stainless steel fermentation tanks. They were given a cold soak for three days before allowing the natural fermentation to start. Three pump overs a day were done on the tanks during fermentation, after which they underwent extended skin contact for 2-3 weeks. The wine was placed in French oak barrels to undergo malolactic fermentation. Matured for 12 months in French oak and rack on average every four months.

Grape Varieties
Merlot

Production
3500 cases – 21,000 bottles

Analysis

Alcohol: 14,5%Vol.
Total Acidity: 5,5 g/L
pH: 3,6
Residual Sugar: 2.2 g/L