{"id":3034,"date":"2024-11-04T12:02:16","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T11:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/book.vergenoegd.co.za\/?p=3034"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:52:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:52:28","slug":"vusi-makes-his-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/newsroom\/vusi-makes-his-mark\/","title":{"rendered":"Vusi makes his mark"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vusi Dalicuba<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our talented young winemaker Vusi Dalicuba is still beaming with joy after winning the VinLog Merlot Trophy at the prestigious 2024 Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards,<\/a> for his 2022 Vergenoegd L\u00f6w Amalie Merlot. The wine also earned a score of 90 points in the newly released 2024 South Africa Special Report by international wine critic and commentator Tim Atkin MW.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur low-lying location in Stellenbosch, just 3km from the Atlantic Ocean, means our vines grow in lime-rich soils infused with maritime fossils \u2013 quite unusual for the appellation,\u201d Vusi explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Corius Visser, Vusi and Beyers Truter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vusi joined our estate in 2021, and is working under the guidance of our MD Corius Visser. He has a Masters in viticulture and oenology from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and was mentored by Lorraine Geldenhuys of Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute,<\/a> Beyers Truter of Beyerskloof<\/a> and Abrie Beeslaar of Kanonkop.<\/a> Beyers and Abrie proposed him for the new-generation role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2022 Vergenoegd L\u00f6w Amalie Merlot<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s get back to the 2022 Vergenoegd L\u00f6w Merlot. After harvesting, the fruit from different vineyard blocks was vinified separately to highlight its distinctive characters. The wine underwent slightly cooler fermentation temperatures to enhance freshness and preserve delicate fruit flavours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It matured for approximately 18 months in 30% new oak and the rest in a combination of first-, second-, third-, and fourth-fill barrels, resulting in a complex, full-bodied, ruby-red wine with subtle herb and fynbos notes, dark fruit, and mulberry on the nose, and delicious plum on the palate. The wine is beautifully balanced with a lingering finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is true for all valuable things, they come in short supply. While the 2022 vintage is sold out \u2013 and for good reason \u2013 its older brothers, the 2021 and 2020 vintages, which share many of the same delicious traits, are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vusi recommends stocking up for the festive season and pairing these vintages with rich, robust dishes like top-range steak with chimichurri sauce or a hearty beef and mushroom stroganoff, packed with layers of umami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taste them right here at our farm, in the Ferme de 1773<\/a> where sommelier George Young (making his own impact, he was recently awarded the title of Best Young Sommelier in SA) and his talented team are on hand to guide you. Or enjoy them with lunch at small plates eatery Geuwels,<\/a> co-owned by Bertus Basson and Drikus Brink. They also operate their fine-dining establishment Clara\u2019s Barn,<\/a> from our historic estate. You\u2019ll find all our elegant, beautifully balanced and refreshing wines to be very suitable matches for all of the fine dishes served at the two restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purchase our award-winning wines online,<\/a> with convenient delivery to your door anywhere in South Africa. The wines are structured for longevity, so buy some for enjoying now and others to put away.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our talented young winemaker Vusi Dalicuba is still beaming with joy after winning the VinLog Merlot Trophy at the prestigious 2024 Michelangelo International Wine & Spirits Awards, for his 2022 Vergenoegd L\u00f6w Amalie Merlot. The wine also earned a score of 90 points in the newly released 2024 South Africa Special Report by international wine<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Vusi Dalicuba Wins Merlot Trophy at Michelangelo 2024","_seopress_titles_desc":"Discover how winemaker Vusi Dalicuba crafted a trophy-winning Merlot scoring 90pts. Pair it with festive dishes \u2013 available online with delivery across South Africa.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vergenoegd.co.za\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}