Darling Cellars Cabernet Merlot
£10.99
£14.65 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 24 bottles available
A breezy, fruit-forward blend from South Africa's cool West Coast, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and a splash of Cinsaut grown on unirrigated bush vines in the Darling Hills. Red cherries, cranberries, and a touch of something sweet and lifted on the nose. Easy-drinking, versatile, and brilliant value at under £11. Delivered across the UK.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
UK wide delivery
Our Verdict
We love wines that challenge assumptions, and this is one of them. Darling isn't on most people's wine maps, it's a wildflower-strewn corner of the West Coast better known for dairy farming than vineyards. But those cool Atlantic breezes and dry-farmed bush vines produce reds with a freshness and elegance you wouldn't expect at this price. This Cabernet Merlot blend is pure crowd-pleaser territory: fruit-driven, approachable, and dangerously easy to drink. We'd point it at anyone looking for an everyday South African red that doesn't taste like every other everyday red. If you enjoy this, explore the rest of the Darling Cellars range, the region keeps surprising us.
Tasting Notes
Bright and fruit-forward from the first pour. Red cherries and cranberries lead on the nose, lifted by an unexpected wisp of spun sugar sweetness. The palate is juicy and approachable, mulberries and ripe red fruit with soft, well-integrated tannins courtesy of early blending in stainless steel. No oak here, so the fruit stays vivid and uncluttered. The finish is clean and medium in length, with a gentle cranberry tartness that keeps you reaching for another sip. This is an easy-drinking, refreshing red built for immediate pleasure.
About This Wine
Here's a South African red that punches well above its price tag. Darling Cellars sits on the Cape's West Coast, where cool Atlantic fog rolls across the hills each morning and unirrigated bush vines dig deep into decomposed granite soils. It's not where most people expect to find great red wine, which is exactly why it's worth your attention. This is a three-way blend: Cabernet Sauvignon leads at 58%, giving structure and dark fruit backbone, while Merlot softens the mid-palate with plummy richness and a 15% measure of Cinsaut lifts everything with bright, perfumed red berry character. Think red cherries and cranberries up front, a whisper of mulberry sweetness, and a fresh, supple finish that keeps you reaching for another glass. Stainless steel maturation keeps things vibrant and fruit-driven, there's no heavy oak here, just clean, honest flavour. The blend is married early so the tannins integrate beautifully, making this ready to enjoy the moment it arrives at your door. Pour it alongside a venison pie on a chilly evening, or let it shine with a simple roasted chicken and root vegetables on a Sunday afternoon. It's equally at home at a casual midweek supper or a relaxed gathering with friends. At under £11 with UK-wide delivery, it's the kind of bottle you buy by the half-dozen and never regret.
Food Pairing
This is a brilliant midweek supper wine. The bright fruit and soft tannins make it a natural alongside roasted chicken with root vegetables, the kind of easy Sunday lunch you throw together without thinking twice. It also works beautifully with a venison pie, where the cranberry-edged acidity cuts through rich pastry. Try it with a simple charcuterie board on a Friday evening, or alongside mature Cheddar and apple chutney.
- —Roast chicken with root vegetables
- —Venison pie
- —Charcuterie board with cured meats and olives
- —Mature Cheddar with apple chutney
- —Bobotie with yellow rice
How to Serve
Decanting
No need to decant. The tannins are already soft and well-integrated from early blending. Pour straight from the bottle and enjoy the fruit at its freshest.
Ageing & Cellaring
This is a drink-now wine through and through. Stainless-steel maturation keeps the fruit fresh and immediate, and there's no oak structure to evolve over time. Enjoy within three to five years of release for the brightest, most vibrant expression of those red berry flavours.
The Land
The vineyards around Darling Hills sit on decomposed granite and Hutton soils, free-draining, mineral-rich ground that forces bush vines to work hard for every drop of moisture. Hot summers are tempered by cool Atlantic breezes off the Benguela Current, creating a push-and-pull between ripeness and freshness. With virtually no irrigation, these vines produce low yields of intensely flavoured fruit, concentration that comes from the earth, not from intervention.
The Winemaking
This is a blend built for immediacy. Grapes from carefully selected vineyard sites undergo a short fermentation of five to eight days, with temperatures managed between 20 and 30°C to preserve that vibrant, fruit-forward character. There's no oak here, maturation happens entirely in stainless steel tanks, keeping the fruit clean and expressive. The three components, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cinsaut, are blended early, giving the tannins time to knit together and soften into something seamless and easy-drinking. It's a winemaking approach that prizes freshness over weight, and it works beautifully.
About the Producer
Darling Cellars
Darling Cellars sits on the Cape West Coast, about seventy-five kilometres north of Cape Town, in a landscape that was dairy country long before anyone thought to plant vines. Founded in the mid-nineties as a privately owned cellar, it's run by a cooperative of around twenty shareholders farming roughly 1,300 hectares, a community venture in the truest sense. Nearly all their vineyards are unirrigated, with bush vines doing what they've always done: pushing roots deep into decomposed granite to find their own water. It's dry farming in its purest form, and it gives the wines a concentration and honesty that you simply can't manufacture. Under the direction of red wine specialist Pieter-Niel Rossouw, the cellar has built a quiet reputation for wines that overdeliver at every price point, genuine, terroir-driven, and refreshingly unpretentious.