Morgenhof Estate Merlot / Cabernet Franc 2010

A rich dark ruby coloured wine lures you to a complex nose full of intense black cherry, mulberry and mixed spice. These enticing flavours follow through on a supple soft palate.

Ideal with baby beef, lamb shank or traditional Sunday Roast.

variety : Merlot [ 60% Merlot; 40% Cabernet Franc ]
winemaker : Jacques Cilliers
wine of origin : 
analysis : alc : 14.19 % vol  rs : 1.8 g/l  pH : 3.65  ta : 5.9 g/l  
type : Red  
pack : Bottle  size : 0  closure : Cork  

ageing : span style="font-weight: bold;"Cellaring Potential: /spanThis wine is drinking beautifully now but can mature up to 6 years from vintage.

in the vineyard : Service Area:
Merlot: 9.5 ha
Cabernet Franc: 4.3 ha
Terroir: The Merlot vineyard is planted on N-NW; SW-W and N, S facing slopes from 160m-200m above sea-level. These blocks are planted on the following soil types nl: Swartland, Tukulu, Vilafonte and Glenrosa. These soils varies from medium to heavy textured, with a clay content that varies from 15-20%. The Cabernet franc is planted on a S, SW slope Tukulu soil.
Vineyard Age:
Merlot: 8 - 19 years
Cabernet franc: 8 years
Density/Block: 3000-3500 vines per hectare
Rootsock: Richter 99; Richter 110
Soil Preparation: Mechanical preparation and adjusting of the pH with lime.

about the harvest: Grapes were harvested by hand in picking baskets which get tipped in bins for transport to the cellar.
Date of Ripening: Merlot: 13/02/2008 - 18/03/2008

in the cellar : Basic Cellar Procedure: Received grapes during the morning. Crushing and de-stemming and the mash are pumped to Marionette fermentation tanks. We did 3 days of cold maceration. Yeast was then added so that fermentation could start. Fermentation temperature was held between 18° - 30° C.
Pump-Overs: Aerated pump-over 4 times per day with moving one times the volume of the tank with every pump-over
Maceration: 15 - 25 days
Press: Bucher Pneumatic press. The first press-wine went with the free-run and the next press-wine was kept aside and treated separately
Malolactic Fermentation: Malo-lactic fermentation done in Stainless Steel tanks
Maturation: 18 Months in French oak barrels, 20% new oak

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