Estate Red

Very versatile, this wine is made for hearty food and would best complement all red meat or mushroom dishes.

Established by the French Huguenots in 1693 on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountains between Paarl and Franschhoek, Plaisir Wine Estate is a rare gem. This 974-hectare estate in Simonsberg-Paarl has earned international acclaim for its white and red wines. About 230 hectares are planted with a variety of noble grape cultivars such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec. Winemaker Fred Fismer attributes producing award-winning wines to being able to work with great fruit coming from a very unique terrain and the invaluable input from his viticulture team.

The diversity of the soils, slopes and elevations is closely linked with the quality of Plaisir de Merle wines. Situated on the east and northeast facing slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain, Plaisir de Merle is bordered by the towns of Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl. The vineyards for this wine, between 12 and 15 years of age, are all located on the Plaisir de Merle farm on south-eastern slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain planted in weathered, decomposed granite soils where high mountain peaks shade the vineyards from the hot, late afternoon sun. This slows down ripening, resulting in wines with a very typically rich fruit complexity and well-ripened tannins.

The wine was then racked and transferred to 300 liter French oak barrels (New, 2nd fill and 3rd fill) to mature for 16 to 22 months.

The grapes were hand-harvested from various vineyards at between 24.9° and 25.4° Balling. The grapes were destemmed, then sorted and pumped into stainless steel tanks. The grapes were fermented at 24 °C. The juice was pumped over the skins daily to extract colour, tannins and flavour. On several occasions the juice was emptied from the tanks and then pumped back over the skins of the same tank (rack and return). Once fermentation was completed, the wine was left on the skins for a further 6 -8 days to macerate. The wine was racked off the skins and malolactic fermentation was completed, partially in barrels and in tanks.