Winemaker Notes
The John X Merriman is a powerful wine that rewards aging. In its youth the wine is worth decanting and expresses cassis, black currant and dark fruits complemented with cigar tobacco and sour cherry notes. As the wine ages and its fine grained tannins soften a softer more savoury palate develops revealing wonderful drinkability and tertiary complexity.
Blend: 52% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec, 1% Cabernet
Franc, 1% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 John X Merriman is a blend of 52% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec and 1% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. In the glass, the wine offers aromas of sage, thyme, cedar, cassis, fire-roasted peppers, dusty cherry and blackberry jus with plum reduction. Medium to full-bodied, the palate displays flavors of dried tobacco, blackberry and pepper chutney with elements of baked earth, leather and dusty red flowers. The mid-palate shows remarkable balance between the alcohol and energetic acidity before the lifting tannins take the lead, finishing with a long-lingering and soft dusty grip. Just under 3,500 bottles were filled after resting for 20 months in oak barriques (35% new French).
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.