#405 van loggerenberg break a leg merlot
VIDEO CHAPTER INDEX:
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00:00 – Intro to “the sideways effect”
01:20 – What does the sales data say?
01:44 – The sideways effect is NOT about Merlot
02:58 – Intro to Van Loggerenberg Break a Leg Merlot
03:15 – Meet Winemaker Lukas Van Loggerenberg
03:58 – The “Break a Leg” wine range explained
05:09 – Tasting Notes for the Van Loggerenberg Break a Leg Merlot 05:52 – What is a “classic South African Merlot”
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Did you know the so-called “Sideways Effect” wasn’t quite the death sentence for Merlot that everyone thinks it was? After Paul Giamatti’s character Miles famously declared, “I’m not drinking any f***ing Merlot,” it seemed like the grape had been permanently exiled from the wine world. But here’s the twist: despite the movie’s drama, Merlot sales barely budged! In fact, between 2005 and 2008, they only dropped by a mere 2%. So while Merlot might have been shunned in Hollywood, it turns out the wine aisle wasn’t quite as dramatic. Curious? Let’s dive deeper into why Merlot is far from finished!
If you have yet to sign up for your Monthly HanDrinksSolo Wine Subscription then you’ll have to hunt this wine down in your own to be able to connect the info to the wine in the bottle. But until then, I’ve left you some tasting notes and technical specs.
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TASTING NOTES
👃🏼 The vanguard carries lovely hints of blackcurrant, maybe blackcurrant fruit pastel, alongside a touch of red cherry candy, and this is all garnished on the outside by beautiful fresh sprigs of sage and some thyme. The Oak on this is really subtle, and that’s because it’s largely Old large-format Oak, so you get the gentle effect of oxidation, but you don’t get large quantities of those oak compounds.
👄 If I were to critique this one at all, perhaps I’d call it a little bit too safe in the sense that it certainly has no shock value. | It’s Medium bodied with very soft tannins and a fairly amiable partnership between the sweeter black Fruit and the hints of slightly brighter red cherry, which makes it particularly more-ish. There is some added joy on the tail comes where there’s a almost a burst of fresh mint leaf as the fruit elements fade, which leaves a lovely sense of freshness, drawing you into the next sip. A beautifully tidy accessible expression of Merlot that perhaps communicates why it is one of the most versatile and widely grown cultivars on the planet..
TECHNICAL SPECS
🔬Sixty percent of this vintage is from a vineyard planted in the Upper Blaauwklippen area in Helderberg (Stellenbosch). It’s planted on deep red decomposed granite soils with koffieklip in the top soil. The remainder is from a vineyard planted in DevonValley in Stellenbosch. This area is known for its clay rich soils which produces wines with great structure. All grapes were destemmed and fermented naturally with one long pump over everyday for 3 weeks. The fermented grapes were lightly pressed and the wine went through MLF in 3rd fill French barriques. After MLF the wines were racked and received their a sulfur addition. The wine was bottled with a coarse filtration and light sulfur addition.
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