Muratie Martin Melck Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Martin Melck, owned Muratie from 1763 to 1781. A mercenary from Prussia who acquired immense wealth at the Cape, primarily through marriage, he was also a devout Lutheran who felt so aggrieved that members of his faith were forbidden to form a congregation that he built a ‘schuilkerk’ (hidden church) alongside his own home in Cape Town. His greatest hope was that Lutherans would one day be able to worship openly – and indeed this came to pass one year before his death. His greatest love, though, was for his daughter, Anna Catherina, for whom he bought Muratie.

Anna Catherina’s second name means ‘purity’, a virtue Melck valued, and one that this Simonsberg Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon seeks to express with its concentrated dark fruit (black cherries, berries and plums) underscored by fresh acidity and framed by cedar wood and spice. Sourced from three different blocks on the estate, it’s opulent yet polished, a wine of integration, balance and great length, true to its terroir just as Melck stayed true to his beliefs.