Audacia Wines : Merlot 2010

Audacia is a relatively small operation and they tend to keep it this way. One of the advantages they experience is being able to tend to each vine by hand, something larger wineries have difficulty doing. Their winemaker, Michael van Niekerk, is in control of the entire process by managing the viticulture as well as the winemaking process. At Audacia, the grapes are hand harvested, and no vineyard is more than seven hundred meters away from their cellars, helping assure the picked grapes aren't left to cook in the harsh sun before undergoing fermentation. The result is a Merlot full of red fruit and soft tannin. The finish expresses plummy flavors that linger on the palate. With twelve months aging prior to bottling, and even more before release, you are sure that the Audacia Merlot is ready for consumption upon release.