If classic elegance is more your thing, look no further than our distinguished and elegant Merlot.

It has a beautiful gem-like ruby color with garnet flashing around the edges and first reveals a delicate all-sorts of berries – red, black and blue – followed by the alluring aroma of aniseed, cedar and licorice which are all carried through on the palette. Rather than dominate, French oak adds support, while the structure comes from the tannins, as do the light mocha flavors. The texture is smooth and well-rounded, lingering a while to remind you of its balance and elegance.

Our Merlot is perfect with Sunday roast lamb and a perfect match for lamb shanks and you’ll be able to enjoy it for the next 5 years.

Tasting Notes: Deep ruby velvet in color with an opulent nose combining red plums, cassis, walnuts and bramble boosted by a distinctive waft of violets. The fruit follows through onto the palate offering a red plum profile with an understated savory and herbal element on the back palate. A finely tuned acid and wood tannin balance, together with a purity of fruit, distinguish this seamless wine as a great ambassador for Merlot.

The Vintage
The season presented a cold winter with good rainfall that ensured a terrific growing and ripening period during spring and summer. Due to a few small heat spikes and rain showers in January, the vines were exposed to stop-and-start conditions. This complicated determining the accurate stage of ripeness which
required viticultural expertise, experience and patience. The 2020 crop size was average.

Viticulture
The Merlot vineyards are planted on Hutton Oak Leaf soils at 200 meters above sea level on the slopes of the Tygerberg 7 kilometres from, and in sight of, the Atlantic Ocean. The age of the vines ranges from 15 to 18 years and an estimated 2,300 vines yield a crop of 7 to 8 tons per hectare per vintage.

Vinification
Handpicked fruit was destalked, crushed and fermented in conical-shaped stainless steel tanks. The ‘aerated pump-over’ method was used to gently pump the fermenting juice across the skin cap four
times a day for one-hour periods at a time, ensuring soft tannin extraction. After fermentation the wine was pressed, racked and matured in 15% new oak, 40% second fill, 25% third fill, and 20% fourth
fill French oak barrels.

Food Complements: Merlot matches with a wide variety of foods because of its position in the middle
of the red wine spectrum. In general Merlot pairs well with chicken and other light meats as well as lightly-spiced dark meats. Think roast duck, turkey, and lean cuts of beef. 

RS: 2.6 g/l
pH: 3.57
TA: 5.6 g/l
Alc: 14.66 %

De Grendel is a proud member of the WWF's Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI), a pioneering partnership between the country’s wine industry and conservation sector, it protects the natural habitat, encourages wine producers to farm sustainably and to express the advantages of the Cape’s abundant diversity in their wines. Over 140 000 hectares of natural area have been conserved by BWI producers since project inception.

The farm is situated within a pristine natural vegetation area known as 'Renosterveld' and the conservation thereof is a passion of the family. Home to rare and endangered floral species, this delicate ecosystem has been preserved for future generations. The diversity of the farming activities on De Grendel further enhances their philosophy of sustainable agricultural practices to support their long-term vision for the Graaff family legacy in the landscape.

Proudly carbon-negative
De Grendel is proudly carbon negative. An assessment of greenhouse gasses emitted and absorbed through operations on the De Grendel wine and dairy estate established that the Durbanville farm is a net carbon sink, meaning that the farm releases less carbon into the air than it absorbs through growth of vegetation on the farm.

Solar Energy
Investing in solar photovoltaic energy has proved a wise decision for De Grendel, both financially and environmentally, and enhanced the Graaff family’s deep legacy of sustainable stewardship of the historic farm.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) plant commissioned at the end of 2015 consistently exceeds its targeted output and now powers a third of De Grendel’s operation, resulting not only in cost savings but also further improvement in De Grendel’s sustainability and already negative carbon footprint.

Water-wise
A terraced indigenous garden cascades towards the cellar. Using water-wise principles, a series of agricultural drains capture storm water through the wet season and send it down to the dam where it is circulated.

Plant wise, De Grendel took its lead from the fynbos found on the Tygerberg, using Buchu plants, Restios, Proteas and Pincushions. Wild grape covers the pergola leading to the front entrance of the cellar complex.

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