“A glass of wine counts as a serving of fruit, right?!”

The Sabi Sabi experience is created around stories and storytelling. From the moment you arrive at Sabi Sabi and embark on your first safari, you are educated in an informative manner by your safari guide. With this information comes stories, personal experiences, folklore, and other interesting titbits that you as a guest will take with you at the end of your safari experience.

Just like the bush has so much to offer regarding stories, so does wine and in particular the wines we have in our cellar. Individually selected because of the history and stories surrounding them. We all love a great story AND when you add a great wine to it, it’s a perfect match.

True to this with a unique story pertaining to the name and its history is the Meerlust Rubicon.

While on holiday in Bordeaux, Nico Myburgh - then custodian of Meerlust - was amazed by the similarities in the climate and soil structure to that of the Eerste River Valley where his farm was situated. Returning with a new vision and huge challenge at hand, Nico was determined to cross the “Rubicon” and change things in the Valley for good.

Joining forces with Giorgio Dalla Cia and after many attempts and hard work, 1980 saw the birth of a new style wine own to the Meerlust Estate. A Bordeaux style blend, 70% Cabernet, 20% Merlot and 10% Cab Franc. This was “the watershed” moment. The two wine makers could not decide on a suitable name. A professor friend of theirs at Stellenbosch University suggested “Rubicon”. A new frontier had been crossed.

The vineyards are hand harvested and the individual blocks are kept separate throughout fermentation – first in stainless steel and thereafter in 300 litre French oak barrels. Blending happens in wintertime, followed by another year in the barrel, with bottling taking place following by two years – release happens at four years of age, which is immediately ready to drink – although – the wine will mature beautifully for up to 30 years in perfect cellar conditions.

On the nose - plums, sandalwood and vanilla. On the palate - dark fruits, cassis, mulberry and subtle tannins to round off a full lingering mouth feel.

Chef Mercy’s Moroccan Coffee Crusted Springbok loin, venison ragout, creamy potato puree finished off with roasted Macadamia nuts and infused honey could not ask for a better partner in crime. In this instance taking wine, cuisine and the combination of flavours into consideration, overindulgence will not be considered a crime by any stretch of the imagination. Cheers and bon appetite.