Santa & D’Sas 2019 Merlot

Medium crimson in colour with purple hues. Lifted aromas of plums, red currants and boysenberries burst from the glass combined with an attractive dried herb and spice lift. The generous palate allows soft tannins to glide over the mid palate along with flavours of plum, blackberry and blackcurrent. This is an expressive, fresh and plush Merlot with a refined finish.

Kangaroo fillet with blueberry jus.

The King Valley is one of Australia’s most exciting, emerging wine regions. It is located in North East Victoria – approximately three hours North of Melbourne and seven hours South of Sydney. Home to the most picturesque and unspoilt valley in Australia, King Valley benefits from a cool climate with extremely varied terrain, that ranges from snow-capped Alps to sun baked fields.

The growing season was a return to warmer conditions. Cool nights and warm days allow good varietal flavour expression with ripe tannins. Overall, a strong vintage producing red wines with richness and plushness.

The fruit for the 2019 Merlot was picked on the 4th April at 14.2° baumé. The grapes were picked in the early morning and crushed to static fermenters for a 3 day cold soak. After stabilisation of the colour, the must was inoculated for fermentation on skins with a peak temperature of 30.0°C reached. This allowed varietal expression of aromas and flavours while extracting soft subtle tannins. The wine was pressed of skins into various format oak for a period of 12 months to gain extra complexity and refinement. The wine was kept on lees with no sulphur until late June which allowed retainment of fresh aromas and flavours while providing texture and mouthfeel. The wine was bottled under screw cap.

Alcohol 14.31%v/v, pH 3.40, TA 5.67 g/L

750mL, 6 bottles per case