2018 Meritage

The 2018 Meritage was harvested with excellent flavour in each specific variety and when the fruit was hanging clean on the vines. We start by de-stemming all of the fruit and about 50% of the fruit is crushed, while the other 50% remains whole berry during a 5-7 day cold soak. After cold soaking, we warm up the fruit for alcoholic fermentation. Once alcoholic fermentation is complete and the tannin structure is right, we gently press each batch of wine off of the skins and pump it to a settling tank. After settling, each batch of wine is put into specially selected barrels for malolactic fermentation and aging. The wine is sulphured in barrel to preserve the character and fruit and continues to age with careful monitoring for 16 months. Through tasting and blending trials, each variety or batch of wine is then taken out of barrels, and blended into tank to integrate for the final wine. This Meritage is made from special selected barrels who quality and balance was integrated, elegant and best for blending to create this small batch wine. A light filtration is carried out before bottling.