Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
With a dark ruby core, the 2017 Claypot Merlot opens to firm, juicy, dark red and black-fruited expressions that sway with the elegance of French oak and baking spices. Aromas of black plum, dark cherry, juicy blackberry, gravel and graphite display soft elements of juicy tobacco. Medium to full-bodied, the wine exudes juiciness that offers still youthful and ripe tannins. This Merlot ends with a dusty and mineral-driven finish. It will continue to deliver pleasure until its tenth birthday. Only 5,000 bottles were made after spending 27 months in 80% new French barrels.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Situated on the western edges of Cape Peninsula, the vineyards in this cool-climate, maritime district of Cape Town grow within one kilometer to the sea in most directions.
Cape Peninsula is recognized mainly for Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon and includes the small region of Constantia where the Dutch governor, Simon van der Stel founded an extremely successful vineyard in the 17th century.