2018 The Revivalist Merlot *
Great Merlot is as elusive as it is seductive and when selecting parcels for The Revivalist we seek to craft a full expression of the variety. From the violet and red flower perfume to the soulful earthy aromas, ebulliently ripe fresh plum fruit flavors and suave fleshy tannins, we carefully layer this wine to a complex yet seamless style. The resounding freshness and lively acid structure ensures this wine is a lively, energetic and mouth-filling expression of Merlot.
 Block information:Blocks 200s(79%) – 1.7-hectare contoured planting from 1976. Moderate depth soil, dark red and dark brown silty light clay, with 2-10% fragments of yellow siltstone, overlaying a whiteish fine-grain siltstone. Yield of 8-tonnes per hectare;Block 103(17 %) – 1-hectare block planted in 1989. A relatively shallow soil. Brown silty clay loam with 20-50% siltstone fragments, over a clay weathered yellow siltstone layer. Below this layer is a bedrock of layered yellow siltstone. Yield of 5-tonnes per hectare;Block 105(4%) – 0.9-hectare Petit Verdot block planted in 2013. Yield of 4-tonnes per hectare.
Winemaking: Merlot was hand-picked between the 15th and 17th of March, and Petit Verdot was hand-picked on the 24th of March. Destemmed and whole berry sorted then gently crushed. Cold soaked. Native yeast fermentation and pumped over daily with a minimum 21-days on skins. Basket pressed with light pressing included with the free run juice. Heavier pressings kept separate and not included. Drained directly into barrel. Racked and returned three times during maturation for 15-months, aged in fine-grain Bordeaux coopered barrels (50% new). Bottled September 2019. Screw Cap.Â
