Winemaker Notes
Blend: 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 14% Malbec, 9% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
This estate in the hills above Stellenbosch focuses on two blends of Bordeaux varieties; Fusion V emphasizes Cabernet Sauvignon grown on gravel soils. It's a lovely textural pleasure, with black-currant length of flavor, floral, juicy and bright. The mesquite note in the tannins doesn't get in the way of this wine's fruit, which lasts with grace and power.
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Wine Spectator
This has an old-school core of steeped currant, blackberry and plum fruit intertwined with notes of charcoal, tobacco and cedar. Shows some lovely polish, with enticing black tea and warm cocoa details filling in throughout. Well done. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2020.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
South Africa’s most famous wine-producing district, Stellenbosch, surrounds the historic town with the same name; fine winemaking here dates back to the late 1600s. Its valleys of granite, sandstone and alluvial loam soils between the towering blue-grey mountains of Stellenbosch, Simonsberg and Helderberg have the capacity to produce beautiful wines from many varieties. The climate is warm Mediterranean, tempered by the cool Atlantic air of nearby False Bay.
Perhaps most well-known for its Pinotage and Bordeaux blends, Stellenbosch also produces noteworthy wines from Syrah, Chenin blanc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc. The district’s wards—Banghoek, Bottelary, Devon Valley, Jonkershoek Valley, Papegaaiberg, Polkadraai Hills and Simonsberg-Stellenbosch—all produce distinctive wines from vines with relatively low yields.