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Saint Clair 2007 Rapaura Reserve Merlot

For this week’s wine review, I have chosen yet another Merlot. This time the wine is the Saint Clair Rapaura Reserve Merlot Coming from Marlborough, this Merlot brings different characters when compared to the Hawkes Bay Merlot of last week, even though both are low cropping vineyards. Saint Clair’s Rapaura Road vineyard is a warm site though, and careful monitoring of the fruit made sure it had ripened to full maturity at the time of harvest.

After harvest, the fruit was destemmed into small stainless steel fermenters for a four day cold soak before undergoing fermentation. During fermentation, the must was hand plunged for up to six times a day during the height of fermentation.

After pressing, the wine was racked to new and seasoned French Oak barriques, where it underwent malolactic fermentation for enhanced integration of tannins and flavour. The wine was aged on lees for ten months, after which time it was blended, egg white fined, balanced and bottled.

The resulting ruby red Merlot has those distinctive Merlot aromas of dark Plums, this time they are accompanied by wonderful aromas of ripe black cherry and tobacco leaf.

On the palate, I found this wine to contain delicious flavours of ripe plum, cherry and dark chocolate. There was also a hint of mushroom and spicy oak notes making a complex wine with a full supple tannin structure. The palate is elegant and stylish with a long, lingering finish. I can see in my opinion that this wine will continue to develop for three to four more years in a cellar.

I would recommend the Saint Clair 2007 Rapaura Reserve Merlot with a good rib eye steak, especially on a cold winter’s night.

Reviewed by Stephen Clark (19/6/2009)
 

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