Thelema Merlot Reserve 2018

Platter's Wine Guide 2021 - 5 Stars

This wine is a blend of the best parcels within our merlot vineyards. A wine well structured and showing extraordinary concentrations of ripe berries and cedar wood. Will reward cellaring.

Maturation

Will continue to develop well for 8 years.

Food Pairing

Mushroom risotto, rich pastas and grilled meats.

Winemaker's Comments

This wine is a blend of the best parcels within our merlot vineyards. A wine well structured and showing extraordinary concentrations of ripe berries and cedar wood. Will reward cellaring.

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Tasting Notes

Viticultural Practices

Varietal	Merlot – Clone 192
Root stock	R99
Soil type	Hutton – decomposed granite
Age of vines	Planted 1988
Plant density	3200 vines per hectare
Trellising	Vertical hedge
Pruning	2-bud spurs every 12cm
Yield	12 t/ha
Irrigation	Supplementary drip
Vintage	A warm, dry vintage with a late start, resulted in smaller tonnage but yielding balanced,well structured wines with lovely intensity.
Picking date	21 February
Grape sugar	25.4 °B
Acidity	5.1 g/l
pH at harvest	3.54

Winemaking Practices

Yeasts	Natural occurring yeasts
Fermentation temp	27 °C
Method	De-stalked, hand sorted, crushed, pumped into stainless steel fermentation tanks, cold soak for two days, and pumped over twice a day for 5 days, an aerated pump over in the morning and a closed circulation in the afternoon. After fermentation the wine is pressed and racked to barrel for malolactic fermentation.
Wood maturation	18 months in 100% new French oak barrels

Wine Details

Residual Sugar	1.8 g/l
pH	3.41
Total acid	6.0 g/l
Alcohol	14% by volume
Maturation	2020 – 2029

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The Current Range

Thelema Sauvignon Blanc 2020

4.5 Stars Platter's Wine Guide 2021 / Jancis Robinson 16 out of 20