This delicious three-way blend was carefully crafted from grapes grown on the estate. It comprises 55% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc and 19% Cabernet Sauvignon and was matured for 17 months in 30% new-, 50% second fill- and 20% third fill French oak barrels. The wine was not fined, but only lightly filtered prior to bottling to subtly mellow the rich tannin structure. This vintage shows the phenomenal structure and freshness that has become synonymous to the Constantia Glen THREE, but also has excellent concentration. This means that it can be enjoyed in its youth, yet it will certainly age and develop admirably for another 10-12 years under correct cellaring conditions.
Harvest summary by winemaker, Justin van Wyk
2018 was really a fantastic vintage for the red varieties at Constantia Glen. The flavour of the grapes at the time of picking was concentrated and intense with bright aromatics. Good winter rains in June and July of 2017 provided the ideal foundation for our dryland vineyards before they embarked on a cool, yet dry growing season, stretching from September 2017 to March 2018, when the harvest commenced. The slow and long ripening allowed for the slow accumulation of sugars, and grapes that retained phenomenal acidity right up until picking.
The 2018 harvest was quite late, commencing with the first blocks of Merlot on 26 March 2018, and we picked the red varieties over 4 weeks with the last block of the Cabernet Sauvignon coming into the winery on 18 April 2018.
Our estate vineyards showed remarkable buffering capacity and the 2018 vintage has delivered extremely elegant and refined red wines with great richness, texture, aromatic purity, and persistent, mouth-coating tannins. The wines also have great structure and acidity, which will allow for superlative bottle-ageing.