Having sold out of their 2014 vintage Grand Merlot in July 2019, Irvine Wines has released its new 2016 vintage Grand Merlot last month.

This vintage release delivers on Irvine Wines’ expectation. The wine is deep crimson in colour with beautiful notes of plum, black cherry, spice and a touch of coffee oak on the nose.

Irvine Wines has developed a reputation for making award-winning Merlots, and with three Merlot wines in the portfolio, the Grand Merlot is the flagship wine that put them on the map.

Grapes for this wine are sourced from Irvine’s original vineyard in Eden Valley. Planted in 1983, this Grand Merlot vineyard is nurtured by the Miles family.

The site purposely faces and north-west to catch the warm sun late in the season when the days are short, enabling the Grand Merlot to achieve perfect ripeness before harvesting.

There are seven individual clones of Merlot planted to this vineyard, allowing the Miles family to experiment and innovate with every new season. Soils are sandy loam over a substrate of gravel; a unique profile that is critical for growing premium Merlot.

“Each and every Irvine wine has a story to tell. They are crafted to be expressive of variety and to resonate with a sense of place and time. We let the vineyard speak for itself and the result is clearly conveyed in the creation of our Grand Merlot” said Peter Miles, Irvine vigneron and shareholder.

“Year on year, we choose to focus on the unique characters of each vineyard and harvest, our vision is to make wines of elegance and longevity, and this is how we approach both our grape growing and winemaking.”

Meticulous precision and attention to detail has resulted in the 2016 Grand Merlot being produced with a complexity of flavour, texture and structure.

The Irvine Wines 2016 Grand Merlot is a wine worth celebrating. A wine of pure elegance, longevity and structure.

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