Rustenberg John X Merriman Red 2020

Rustenberg John X Merriman Red, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2020     

Grapes: A classic Bordeaux style blend of 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 14% Petit Verdot & 7% Malbec. All hand picked. Aged in oak barriques (35% new French; 65% second- and third-fill) for 20 months. 

Producer Tasting Note:

This classic South African red wine is produced from low-yielding, mature vines on the South-West slopes of the Simonsberg mountain. John X Merriman is a powerful wine that rewards ageing. In its youth, the wine is worth decanting and expresses cassis, blackcurrant and dark fruits complemented with cigar tobacco and sour cherry notes. As the wine ages, and its fine-grained tannins soften, a softer, more savoury palate develops revealing wonderful drinkability and tertiary complexity.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"Ripe glazed fruits. Lead pencil, cola, raspberry. Cedar box. Refined, silky but gritty dry tannins on finish."

Silver Medal, International Wine challenge, 2022

"... the 2020 John X Merriman offers a layered and seductive nose of black fruits with hints of oak and spice with dried herbs wafting from the nose. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is balanced with buttressing tannins and succulent acidity, offering flavors of black plum and dark cherry with hints of cassis and cinnamon. The wine glides to an elegant and complex finish that has me returning for a second and third sip. Bravo..." Drink 2023-2034

92/100 points, Anthony Mueller, WINE aDVOCATE, July 2023

"Aromas of blackcurrant, back licorice, bark and baking spice. Full-bodied with silky tannins. Black-fruited with savory spice and leafy herbs. Steady intensity and depth here. Persistent. Sustainable."

92/100 points, James Suckling

Drink with roasted red meats.