Catherine Marshall WinesAmatra Merlot "The Oreads" 2016 (R83.16 per bottle, 6 bottles)
R499
About
Catherine Marshall Wines is an Independent Wine Company producing hand-crafted, premium wines in the Elgin Valley along the Cape South Coast. The vines are grown in cool climate conditions, produce intense, bright, pure and fresh wines of character. Catherine Marshall is the first eponymous range in South Africa to be released by a woman winemaker.
Product features
- White peach top notes with fleshy ripe nectarines on the core and crisp green apple acidity fans out the tail on the finish. A rich, mid-palate of lanoline adds depth and French clone (348) Merlot exudes bright, fresh black plums. Plush purple fruit flavours are supported by a vibrant thread of fresh acidity from the addition of a small splash of Cabernet Franc to harmoniously balance the opulently textured mid-core palate weight.
- Vines grown on deep Tukulu soils (a mixture of sandstone, gravels and clay) on a drought-resistant rootstock, as Merlot is particularly heat-sensitive, are trellised on a five-wire fence system facing east. French clone 348 best suits this relatively warm site as it produces wines of elegance, bright purple fruit and purity. Cabernet Franc is from a warmer slope in the cool Elgin Valley and is grown on a shallow gravel top layer with clay underlying. Stringent canopy management is implemented, as the vigour of crop and leaf canopy is very high. Clusters are hand-picked towards the end of March in small batches of 18kg.
- Clusters were de-stemmed and partially crushed after stringent sorting to remove unwanted berries and other matter. Spontaneous fermentation occurs in small fermentation vats for after about fourteen days and once primary fermentation is completed, the mash is pressed in a small basket press. The wine is then decanted to small French oak casks for secondary Malo-lactic fermentation and left to mature for 12 months. The final barrel selection is made and taken through a very light filtration prior to bottling. No finings are applied to ensure that the natural integrity and structure of the resultant wine is maintained.
Product specifications
- Alcohol: 13.93%
- Acidity: 5.30 g/l
- pH: 3.56
- Residual Sugar: 3.0 g/l
- Total Extract: 30.0g/l
- 96% Merlot, Cabernet Franc 4%, Elgin Valley
Accolades:
90 points Tim Atkin Report, 4* John Platter Guide
Humble bragging. How is this still a thing?
You know the type. They'll say something along the lines of "I really miss my old Chevy Spark. This Audi SUV is so much harder to park."
Rest assured they don't miss that Chevy AT ALL. They just want you to know that they spent truckloads of cash on the latest Audi, but they want to come across as really casual because somehow that makes them cooler. Or something.
You'd think the complete lack of any complimentary responses would put an end to this type of self-appreciation, but if anything it's happening more and more.
We'd love to come up with an effective solution to it (honestly, it's what the world needs) but we're waaay too busy running a successful eCommerce company to actually invest the time.
Did you know we're also getting our PhDs on the side? No big deal.
