Meerlust Merlot is a delicious wine from Stellenbosch in South Africa which shows great approachability and charm. It is a seductive wine with lush dark fruit and an opulent texture. The wine is complex with a host of dark bramble flavours, mulberry, liquorice, damson and plum with hints of dark chocolate and spice, tempered by a stony minerality.

Meerlust is one of South Africa’s greatest wine producers and has been owned by the Myburgh family since 1756. Situated 15km south of Stellenbosch on a granite outcrop, 5km from False Bay, the estate benefits from cooling breezes and evening mists, which provide the perfect conditions for growing premium grapes. Hannes is the 8th generation of his family to run the estate and was instrumental in establishing Rubicon as one of the world’s greatest fine wines. The estate pioneered Bordeaux varietals in the Cape in the late 1970s and it is fitting that Rubicon remains one of the Cape’s greatest red wines and, arguably, the best-value fine wine in the world.

The wines are now made by Wim Truter who took over from Chris Williams in 2019. Wim has more degrees than the all-female 60s chart toppers so should know a thing or two about making wine. Chris now runs his own project called The Foundry.