Flora and Fauna Merlot by Kleine Oranjerie
£10.99
£14.65 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
Only 5 bottles left
Soft, generous Merlot from Paarl's sandy loam vineyards, made the slow way: gently pressed, naturally fermented, and bottled with real personality. Dark cherry, chocolate and a leafy lift give it that classic Merlot charm without the syrupy heaviness. A genuine crowd-pleaser at a midweek price, and a lovely introduction to what the Cape can do with this misunderstood grape.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
Expert curated
Our Verdict
We have a soft spot for Merlot that remembers it's Merlot. So many examples chase weight and oak when what the grape really wants is freshness and finesse, which is exactly what Kleine Oranjerie deliver here. There's a leafy, savoury edge under the dark fruit that lifts the whole thing out of the supermarket Merlot trap. Perfect for anyone who's quietly bored of big, sweet reds and wants something with a bit of personality. Under eleven pounds, naturally fermented, made with care: this is the sort of honest, everyday bottle we genuinely enjoy recommending.
Tasting Notes
The nose leads with dark cherry and cocoa, threaded with crushed stone minerality and a leafy, almost herbal lift that keeps things fresh rather than heavy. The palate follows through with ripe dark plum and bittersweet chocolate, carried on a texture that genuinely earns the word velveteen. There's a savoury edge underneath, bramble and a whisper of blueberry, and the finish lingers without ever turning jammy. Naturally fermented, properly varietal, quietly serious.
About This Wine
Merlot has a reputation problem in the UK, and most of it is undeserved. Done well, it's one of the most welcoming reds on the table: supple, fruit-driven, easy to love without being dull. This is Merlot done well. Kleine Oranjerie work with vineyards scattered across the Western Cape, and for this bottling they've gone to Paarl, where sandy loam soils and warm days produce a softer, rounder style of Merlot. The secret is picking early. Wait too long and Merlot turns flabby and confected; catch it at the right moment and you get this: dark cherry edged with chocolate, a whisper of crushed stone, and that distinctive leafy freshness that stops the fruit becoming jammy. The palate is plush with dark plum and cocoa, finishing long and velvet-smooth. The winemaking is refreshingly hands-off. Gentle pressing, natural ferments, no heavy hand in the cellar, just letting the fruit speak. The result is a Merlot that feels honest and alive, the kind of bottle that disappears quickly over a Tuesday night roast chicken or a slow-cooked lamb ragu. Try it with baked field mushrooms stuffed with sundried tomato couscous, an unexpectedly brilliant match. Delivered to your door anywhere in the UK, and at this price, it's a smart everyday red worth keeping a few of on the rack.
Food Pairing
This is a wine that loves savoury, umami-rich cooking. Try a portobello mushroom baked with sundried tomato and herby couscous, a midweek shepherd's pie, or roast duck breast with a cherry pan sauce. It's also happy alongside a wedge of mature Cheddar or a slice of mushroom and thyme tart at Sunday lunch.
- —Baked portobello mushrooms stuffed with sundried tomato couscous
- —Shepherd's pie with rosemary mash
- —Roast duck breast with cherry pan sauce
- —Mushroom and thyme tart with a green salad
- —Mature Cheddar with quince paste
How to Serve
Decanting
No need for a long decant, but a quick splash through a decanter or a vigorous swirl in the glass helps the leafy aromatics lift and the cocoa notes settle into focus.
Ageing & Cellaring
Drinking beautifully now and built for the medium term rather than the long haul. Enjoy over the next 3 to 4 years, during which the fruit will hold its generosity while the tannins soften further and the leafy, savoury notes gain a touch more complexity.
The Land
Sandy loam soils underpin these Paarl vineyards, draining freely and gently stressing the vines so the fruit develops real intensity rather than soft, overblown ripeness. Combined with early picking, those soils help coax out Merlot's cooler, brighter register: blueberry, bramble, crushed minerals, a whisper of leaf.
The Winemaking
Picking happens early here, a deliberate move to lock in Merlot's brighter side: blueberry, bramble, that lifted leafy lift that stops the grape sliding into jammy territory. Fruit is gently pressed and left to its own devices with wild yeasts, a natural ferment that lets the vineyard do the talking rather than the cellar. The result is a Merlot that feels honest and unhurried, with vibrant fruit, a velveteen texture, and enough freshness to keep you reaching for the glass.
The Western Cape Region
Le Domaine draws its fruit from vineyards scattered across the Western Cape, from coastal sites cooled by Atlantic breezes to warmer inland slopes, all planted between 50 and 300 metres above sea level. This broad sourcing is deliberate. By blending components from different microclimates, the cellar builds a consistent house style that balances the crisp acidity of cooler sites with the ripe generosity of warmer ones. It's the Western Cape's extraordinary diversity captured in a single glass.
About the Producer
Kleine Oranjerie
Franschhoek is postcard-pretty, all mountains and old oaks, but Kleine Oranjerie's real interest lies further afield. This producer doesn't confine itself to the valley's borders, instead ranging across Paarl and the wider Western Cape in search of vineyards with real character, particularly the region's oldest vines. It's an approach I've always admired: rather than treating a single estate as gospel, they go looking for what the Cape does best, plot by plot.
That searching spirit shows in the name given to their main range: Flora and Fauna, a nod to the extraordinary biodiversity surrounding these vineyards. It's a fitting name, because the whole philosophy here is about letting that natural variety speak through the glass rather than smoothing it into something generic.
The winemaking is deliberately hands-off. Grapes are pressed gently, fermentation happens naturally, and there's a clear preference for old vineyards, sites over 35 years old, some tracing back to plantings from the early 1900s. Old vines like these produce smaller, more concentrated berries and wines with a depth younger plantings simply can't match. It's a slower, more patient way of making wine, but the results justify it.
The Paarl vineyards feeding the Flora and Fauna range each tell their own story. Merlot comes from sandy loam soils, which tend to produce softer wines with gentle, approachable tannins. Viognier is grown on sandstone, a soil type that helps retain the grape's perfumed aromatics without tipping into heaviness. Both wines carry Wine of Origin Western Cape status, reflecting fruit drawn from across the region rather than a single vineyard.
I like Kleine Oranjerie because it represents something quintessentially South African: a willingness to look beyond the famous names and find quality wherever old vines and good soil happen to meet. For UK drinkers exploring beyond Stellenbosch's big-hitters, this is a producer worth getting to know. Honest, thoughtfully made wines with a genuine sense of place, delivered straight to your door here in the UK.