Saint Clair Pioneer Block 17 Plateau Merlot 2016

Aroma: Dense aromas of wild blackberry, ripe plums, and hints of dark chocolate combine with new leather, espresso coffee, and a hint of spice.

Palate: Rich, full-bodied, and concentrated with layers of ripe dark berries, black Doris plums, and dark chocolate. The texture is silky smooth with hints of new leather, tobacco and spice followed by a long finish.

Grapes were de-stemmed into small stainless steel fermenters for a five-day cold soak to help maximise flavour and colour extraction. The juice was inoculated with specialised yeast to complete fermentation and then hand plunged and pumped over for gentle extraction of flavour colour and tannin. The young wine was kept in contact with skins and tasted daily until the right extraction and balance was achieved then gently pressed. Once settled it was then racked to 26 per cent new and 74 per cent seasoned French oak barrels where it underwent secondary fermentation (malolactic fermentation). After ageing on light lees the wine was blended, fined, balanced and carefully prepared for bottling.