The Jan Fiskaal (fiscal strike) is a common sight in the vineyards. A small bird with a fierce reputation, its “chee-chee-chee” cry and black and white coloring make it easily recognizable.

An elegant, classic style of Merlot with distinctive plum flavors and soft tannins.  Dark ruby-red with aromas of plum, cherry and tobacco spices, complemented by savory and earthy notes typical of Merlot.  On the palate, the wine is soft with gentle tannins and hints of dark chocolate and blueberry.  This medium-bodied wine will be wonderful just by itself or paired with roast chicken, lamb stew, lasagna and barbeque.  Serve at room temperature.

Vintage: A dry and relatively short growing season resulted in optimal preservation of aromatics in the wines. Cool evenings encouraged moisture retention in the soils and gave concentrated color to the skins.

Vineyards: The vineyards are located in the Agter-Paarl region of the Western Cape. The hardy bush-vines are planted in Malmesbury Shale soils have excellent water retention ability and produce bright fruit flavors with balance and elegance.

Winemaking: Grapes were hand-harvested and fermented for 7 days in stainless steel tanks with regular pump-overs. At around 8 degrees balling, the skins were removed and the wine was pressed and racked back to tank for completion of alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. 25% of the wine was barrel-matured in American oak for 12 months. For a softer profile, a small portion is left unoaked. Fined and filtered before bottling.

13.5% ABV

Residual Sugar: 3.8 g/L

Total Acidity: 4.8 g/L

pH: 3.4

Closure: screwtop

Certified Sustainable. Vegan friendly.