Rustenberg - John X Merriman, Stellenbosch - 2015 (750ml)

Wine Composition

52% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot 

Tasting 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.

Awards

Technical Analysis

Alcohol Percentage

14.5% vol 

TA

pH

3.56 

RS

2.6 g/l  

Vinification

The cold wet Winter of 2014 started early and ended late, which is ideal for the vineyards' dormancy; however an unseasonably cool Spring resulted in the vines going into Summer with 10 to 40% less crop than usual. The remainder of the season was warm and dry resulting in one of the earliest harvests on record. Zero disease pressure and small crops of fantastic ripe fruit combined with high natural acids make this potentially the vintage of the decade.

Winemaker

Name - Randolph Christians  

Winery

Rustenberg has a wine-growing history dating back to 1682, when Roelof Pasman from Meurs, near the Rhine, recognised its wine-growing potential. By 1781 some 3000 cases of wine were produced on the farm. Production doubled by the end of the century and a new cellar was built. Wine has been bottled at this cellar for an unbroken period since 1892.

In the early 1800s Rustenberg was divided by owner Jacob Eksteen and a section was given to his son-in-law, who named it Schoongezicht and sold it soon after. Rustenberg and Schoongezicht were at their peak around 1812, with beautiful homesteads and flourishing vineyards. But by mid-century, recession coupled with disease in the vines, brought bankruptcy and dispossession.

Schoongezicht was rescued in 1892 by John X Merriman (who was to become Prime Minister of the Cape), and Rustenberg by his brother-in-law Sir Jacob Barry. Together they revitalised the farms. Fruit was sent to Covent Garden; new vines were grafted onto disease-resistant American rootstock; wines were exported to England and the Continent – and even found in Siberia.

In 1941 Peter and Pamela Barlow bought Rustenberg, later acquiring Schoongezicht and reuniting the properties. Their son Simon took over the running of the farm in 1987. The Barlows have been at Rustenberg for over 60 years: the longest period any one family has owned the farm.