Colour: 
Full deep red with crimson highlights. 

Bouquet: 
Full rich fruit cake nose with dark plum characters. Subtle use of oak augments the nose to give nutmeg nuances. 

Palate:
 Full and rich palate with excellent sweet fruit giving persistence. Structure is provided through fine and long tannins, while a tight acidity provides a clean finish. 

Food Suggestions: 
An excellent match with medium to full flavoured courses , such as tender rare beef. Try it with Italian influenced dishes. 

Cellaring Potential:
 Excellent on release and will age over the next 4 to 6 years 

Winemaking Notes:
Fruit from vines planted in 1975 on our “Winery Block’ in McLaren Vale forms the backbone of this wine, while the aromatics tended to come from more recent plantings on our ‘Farm’ block. The components of the blend were pressed prior to dryness with selections allowed to finish fermentation in barrel. Following malo-lactic fermentation, the wine was matured in oak. The style of wine to which we aspire is one that shows good length and sweet fruit with well structured tannins and excellent length – a more up-market Australian style. The wine received a light egg fining and gentle filtration before bottling.

Background Information:
Richard Hamilton planted his first Merlot wines in 1975 with subsequent plantings in 1985 and more recently in 1998. Lot 148 commemorates the first allotment of land that the Hamilton ancestors acquired when first arriving in South Australia in 1837. Today Lot 148 Merlot has become an excellent example of the variety from McLaren Vale.

Oak:
100% for 16 Months
21% New & 1YO French (15%)
New & 1YO American (10%)
3-4 YO (remainder)