The Merlot Forum South Africa
Why Merlot?
Merlot is often seen as the perfect blending partner, adding a velvety softness to the final wine.
However, there are numerous examples around the world of full-bodied wines with good colour, balanced tannins and good ageing potential.
With careful grape and winemaking techniques, Merlot is known to have its place among the world's great wines.
The Merlot Forum South Africa
How these results can be achieved is the focus of the South African Merlot Forum, which aims to achieve this by sharing ideas and concepts that have proven successful in this area.
What unites all participants is that they love Merlot and the perspectives it brings to South Africa.
The aim is to promote and improve wine from the Merlot grape variety and to provide a platform to acquire existing and new knowledge and share it with members and producers through workshops and online dialogues.
The image of the quality of South African Merlot and Merlot-based blends is to be raised to the next level.
The Merlot grape has experienced a surge in popularity among Cape winegrowers over the past 40 years. In 1982, the country had only 81 hectares planted with Merlot, which has now grown to over 5 400 hectares.
Merlot is now the number one red wine sold in South Africa and the most widely planted grape variety in the world.
What makes a good South African Merlot?
It is the softer, feminine side of the variety that appeals to wine drinkers, especially wine-shy ones, across the board. Finely layered tannins and the typical berry fruit are what you want in Merlot, paired with beautiful juiciness, followed by length and finish. South African Merlot reflects the brilliance and sunshine of South Africa.
Merlot TOP 10
The "Merlot TOP 10" competition takes place every year
"With the Merlot Top 10 we want to showcase the exceptional standard of Merlot wines in this category of Cape wines.
The awards will recognise the best quality wines and give Merlot Forum members the opportunity to see how their respective wines and styles compare to those of their peers.
This type of competition and information sharing can only raise the bar for South African Merlot, moving it to its rightful position as one of the country's leading categories in terms of quality, style typicity and terroir expression," enthuses Dawie Botha, Chairman of the Merlot Forum and winemaker Anthonij Rupert Wines.
HELLO MERLOT TOP MERLOT 10 2025
47 Merlots were submitted and tasted by a five-member top jury.the winners were:
Bein Merlot 2023 - Stellenbosch
Carmen Stevens Merlot 2022 - Paarl
Delaire Graaf Banghoek Reserve Merlot 2022 - Stellenbosch
Dornier Merlot 2021 - Stellenbosch
Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Merlot 2022 - Coastal
Groote Post Merlot 2022 - Darling
Hidden Valley Merlot 2023 - Stellenbosch
Rainbow's End Merlot 2022 - Stellenbosch
Vondeling Barrel Selection Merlot 2022 - Paarl
Wellington Wines Duke Merlot 2023 - Wellington
List of members
AEB AFRICA , ANURA , ANCHOR YEAST , ALMENKERK WINE ESTATE, ALVI'S DRIFT , ANTONIJ RUPERT WYNE, BEIN WINE, BEVERATECH , BOTHA KELDER, BOUTINOT , CLOS MALVERNE, COLUMBIT, CREATION WINES, DE GRENDEL, DELAIRE GRAFF ESTATE, DIEMERSDAL , DIEU DONNÉ VINEYARDS , DORNIER, DU TOITSKLOOF , DURBANVILLE HILLS, EAGLES NEST, EIKENDAL , ELGIN VINTNERS, ENARTIS , FAMILLE SYLVAIN , FLEUR DU CAP, GLEN CARLOU , GLENELLY, GROENLAND WINES, GUARDIAN PEAK, IDIOM WINES, HARTENBERG, HIDDEN VALLEY WINES, KLEIN ROOSBOOM , JORDAN, JASON'S HILL, LA BRI , LADYBIRD VINEYARDS, LAFFORT, LANDSKROON, LANZERAC , LONGRIDGE, LOURENSFORD, MARIANNE WINES, MEERLUST , MEINERT WINES, MOUNTAIN RIDGE , MURATIE , NEDERBURG, NILLBERG ESTATE, OLDENBURG, ORG DE RAC, OVERHEX WINES, RAKA WINES, RAINBOW'S END, RICKETY BRIDGE, ROBERTSON WINERY, RUPERT & ROTHSCHILD VIGNERONS , SHANNON WINES, SLANGHOEK CELLAR , SKILPADVLEI, SPIER, STEENBERG, STELLENBOSCH HILLS, SURE CORK, TAAIBOSCH WINES, THELEMA, UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH , VERGELEGEN, VERGENOEGD LÖW, VILAFONTÉ, VILLIERA WINES.