In Quest of Meerlust

Meerlust estate (aka The Wine Farm which makes the Wine your Dad drinks), is one of the epic and 'ancient' South African wine farms, which made the first Bordeaux style blend in the country (Rubicon) and remains an iconic South African wine brand.

As a young wine drinker, Meerlust can often be an intimidating wine to buy and to drink. I remember my first thoughts of Meerlust only awakening when I started working a couple of years ago, and then thinking what they charged for wine was FAR too much... i could do just fine with a R50 bottle of something decent.

But in the last year or so I've become ever intrigued; I want to see what all the fuss is about, what makes their wines so special, and if anyone should really even bother.

So Sian and I headed out this Friday for a little investigation in Stellenbosch; first we went out to Franschoek to Hillcrest berry farm for a little brunch (much needed) and then off back towards Cape Town to the Meerlust estate.

Meerlust is towards Strand, along Baden Powell, close to De Wijnlander estate, and is VERY low key in its signage, parking and tasting. Basically its absolutely great, a little off the track of the Spier, et al Wine(Disney)Worlds that seem to be consuming the Stellenbosch region. The Meerlust estate is a family affair and looks so.

We went in for the tasting (R20, and they let you taste all their wines all the way to the flagship, which I think is really respectable, and gives you an opportunity to see what the fuss is all about, rather than the usual "vintages not for tasting", i.e. "You should know why our flagship is so great"), and Meerlust let you know what they have on offer, there is no keeping of cards close to the chest. These wines mean business.

The tasting goes through from their solo Chardonnay, to their Pinot Noir (a real treat in my opinion, the colour is a little 'brown' as Pinot's often are, but the round taste is great, especially so early on), from there we headed into their 'Red' label, for the years when the Rubicon is not bottled (i.e. 'bad' years).

A quick note on Meerlust Red: its a good wine, it's worth its price. but DON'T buy this wine trying to figure out Rubicon. I've read this oft-quoted piece of advice before, and having now tasted at the farm I can safely say this is COMPLETE RUBBISH. Meerlust Red is a superb table wine, and something to keep for a mid-week occasion, but it is NOT a poorman's/student's Rubicon. If you are looking for that, there are better bottles at R100 elsewhere.

From the Red, the tasting moved onto a 1998 vintage Merlot; which I found INCREDIBLY spicy and up for it, even after a decade (this was VERY surprising to me, and was a good indication that Meerlust aren't joking around with their ageing potentials) the wine was very direct and complex, and it tasted great. I could have nursed a bottle myself.

From there we went onto their latest Merlot release, for which the Cab. Sav they used to blend in the Merlot has been replaced with Cab Franc. Sian isn't a fan of Cab Franc normally but she rated the Merlot good... tasting the younger Merlot, I can honestly say I think that Meerlust's Merlot should be cellared for a while... Not because its bad fairly young, but because it really improves with age, whilst losing little to no flavour.

Then came the Cab Sav. It's Cab Sav. It tastes like Cab Sav. Don't get me wrong... its a great Cab Sav, but this varietal isn't doing it for me the way it was 5 years ago. It was dry, plummy, dignified, but Cab Sav is a meal wine for me, and never a highlight to taste (unless you've got an aged steak marinating in the fridge and you are looking for a bottle to buy to drink that night). Their C.S. is great though, a very good one by all estimations... but there is something lacking, it's a great wine, but I suspect that all the best grapes are being kept for.... Rubicon.

You can read a lot about Rubicon elsewhere, and one of the reasons we went to the farm was for me to evaluate it before I spent R200 on a bottle for a friend. To cut a long story short, if you like classic, slightly conservative Bordeaux blends (as I do) and like your wine to be from another decade, then Rubicon is where it is AT as far as I'm concerned, wine writers be DAMNED. Rubicon is a great wine, its got brand awareness, which can inflate a wine's price (Just look at Ernie Els wines... those things aren't worth 480 a bottle), but in its case it has not. At between 180-200 a bottle depending on vintage (little birdie tells us 2003 is the best EVER) it's a steal in my opinion. Have it properly cellared.

Rubicon looks impressive as soon as it's in the glass. Both Sian and I were impressed by the colour. It simply looks the way a wine should look in the glass... it's heavy, but not too heavy. The tastes, the nose, the legs of the wine are pretty pitch perfect for what it's trying to do: i.e. be a good, solid, dependable and excellent wine. It is all those things.

If you are looking for 'excitement', have that between 60-120 a bottle at checkers. If you want to have a bottle to take out of the cabinet to drink over dinner with your girlfriend's parents asking them if you can marry their daughter, get a bottle of Meerlust Rubicon. It is Cesarean in its gait, and an excellent wine. It reminds me of what blends can achieve when well thought out, and is a wine which even the most novice of wine drinker can appreciate for its balance.

The trip was an education in not being intimidated by so-called big name wines, and instead appreciating the few private estates for what they bring to the wine merchants; great wines which remind you why South Africa is the wine world's best kept secret.