The Meerlust Estate ( now a national monument) is located, fifteen kilometres south of Stellenbosch in the heart of South Africa’s winelands. The first owner of the property, Henning Huising, settled there in 1693 and named his new-found home ‘Meerlust’, which means ‘pleasure of the sea’, this because the manor house sits on a granite outcrop only five kilometres from False Bay. Wine production began in 1756 and Meerlust is recognized for producing world-class wines.
Hannes Myburgh, eighth generation owner of Meerlust, graduated from Stellenbosch University with a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in French and English in 1982, before studying winemaking at Geisenheim in Germany. Hannes worked at Chateau Lafite in France and Von Oetinger in Germany.
The Meerlust Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 was vinified from selected fruit from 2 low-yielding mature vineyards. The vines are densely planted on well drained, gravelly, low vigour Vilafontes and Dundee soil which has approximately 15 % clay to ensure water availability to the vines roots right through the growing season.
The hand picked fruit was vinified in the traditional manner with partial un-inoculated fermentation and regular remontage. Only the free-run wine was used and aged for 17 months in tight grained French oak barrels. 70% of the barrels were brand new with 30 % second fill casks.