Chalk Farm Merlot, No. 5

• Origin: McLaren Vale, South Australia
  
• Taste guide: Medium bodied and very lightly oaked. This wine has a deep red, ruby colour with a subtle lifted violet bouquet and a slight hint vanilla oak. The berry, cherry and plum flavoured palate is smooth, fresh, rounded and very drinkable! If Merlot is too heavy for you normally, we recommend you try this!
• 75cl - screwcap closure - 13.5% - Non Vintage
• Food pairing: Not too heavy so great with a Sunday roast and all the trimmings!

If you are looking to stock up on some quality wine for a great price, then this popular range of wines from Chalk Farm will certainly be of interest to you. Just looking at the back label of this bottle tells you this was produced for the pub/restaurant trade where we have sourced a parcel of clearance stock.

The story of Chalk Hill starts in 1839 when John Harvey arrived in Adelaide, which was then a three-year-old colony of just 6,000 people.

Today Chalk Hill has five vineyards across McLaren Vale, including the Chalk Hill vineyard that was planted in 1969 and is now home to the newly opened Chalk Hill Tasting Room.

The Chalk Hill brand started organically, as John explains: “Our focus was growing grapes for some of the best wineries in Australia. Each year we kept a few parcels of grapes to make some wine for gifting to family and friends, but that soon changed when we started getting hit up for orders before the grapes were picked. The business grew out of a demand instead of a business plan, and largely on the philosophy of making great wines to share with friends."

“Wine tells a story of the place we live. It shows the climate over the growing season, the soil in which it was grown, and the way the grapes have been tended to from the vineyard to the bottle. There can be nothing more beguiling, rewarding and enjoyable experience than trying to discover this story with friends and loved ones.”

This Merlot is not overly complex, or too deep, its just very quaffable. Medium (almost light) bodied with forest fruits you would expect from the grape but lighter than you would think for a 13.5% Merlot too! We really enjoyed it with friends round for a Sunday roast.