Vergelegen Reserve Merlot

Product Description

Vergelegen was an outpost when the freehold land was granted to Willem Adriaan van der Stel, the new Governor of the Cape. He was a visionary who transformed an utter wilderness into a flourishing Estate to rival Europe’s finest. After Willem Adriaan van der Stel was forced to return to the Netherlands in 1706, Vergelegen went through a succession of owners until 1917 when Sir Lionel Phillips purchased the property for his wife Lady Florence Phillips, who transformed the dilapidated Estate into a floral and cultural treasure trove. After the deaths of Sir Lionel and Lady Phillips, Vergelegen and its contents were sold by auction to the Barlow Family in June 1941. Cynthia Barlow was as devoted to Vergelegen as Lady Phillips had been and maintained the Estate’s tradition. The Vergelegen Estate, owned by Anglo American with a production of about 55 000 cases, is rightly considered to be a ‘must see’ spot for visitors to the winelands. Their range of wines will suit all tastes and preferences from the easy everyday drinking reds to the serious and iconic Vergelegen V. The property, with its layout, including the historic camphor trees and octagonal garden, the stately homestead, and the fertile valley where the fruit trees, vegetables and fine grapevines grow. The added ingredient is the 20th century technological expertise which harnesses the land and produces exceptional crops. The heritage remains inexorably rooted in the property. Vergelegen is a rare place of progressive discovery into a world that harmonizes the past and the present; where an air of dreaminess pervades; and where synergy between man and his bountiful environment is accomplished.

Bright medium red in colour. Currant, plum, spicecake and tobacco on the sweet, expressive nose, complicated by leafy and tarry oak notes. Supple, suave and fine-grained, with good density and sappiness to the flavors of redcurrant, plum and sweet, spicy oak. Finishes long and sweetly tannic, with good depth of texture for South African Merlot and lingering savory notes of woodsmoke and herbs.