Indaba Merlot
£9.99
£13.32 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 2 bottles available
87Wine Enthusiast
86Wine Enthusiast
Looking for a everyday red that punches well above its price? Here it is. Indaba's Western Cape Merlot is velvety, juicy and seriously easy to love, all cherry and dark berry with a soft mocha edge. Open it on a Tuesday, take it to a barbecue, pour it for friends who claim not to like Merlot. They'll change their minds.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
Our Verdict
We keep coming back to Indaba because it does the hard thing brilliantly: delivering real Cape character at a price that lets you drink it any night of the week. Tasted against other entry-level Merlots, this is the one with genuine plushness and a savoury lift rather than flat, sweet fruit. It's perfect for anyone who wants a reliable house red, or as a gentle introduction for friends who think they don't like Merlot. Stock is running low at the moment, and at under a tenner it tends to leave quickly. A small, smart buy with a good heart behind it.
Tasting Notes
Pour this and you get an immediate lift of ripe cherry and dark berry, plum sitting underneath with a soft, rounded weight. The palate is where the velvety texture earns its name: succulent and juicy, with a whisper of mocha from a touch of French oak that adds warmth without weighing things down. A herbal, almost leafy edge keeps it fresh, and a fine mineral thread runs through to a clean, gentle finish. Easy, bright and genuinely moreish.
About This Wine
Some wines make you work for them. This is not one of them, and that is exactly the point. Indaba's Merlot is the bottle you reach for when you want something genuinely good without a moment's fuss, the kind of red that makes a weeknight feel a little more generous. In the glass, it's all welcome: ripe cherry and dark berry fruit, a plummy core, and a gentle lick of mocha and herbs that gives it more interest than the price suggests. A 94% Merlot with a dash of Cabernet Sauvignon for backbone, it's grown across prime Western Cape sites where cooling Atlantic breezes let the fruit ripen slowly and keep its freshness. Most of it sees stainless steel, with a small portion rested in French oak for a touch of polish. The result is soft, velvety and ready to drink now, no decanting, no waiting. This is a brilliant midweek roast chicken wine, equally happy alongside a bowl of spaghetti bolognese, a cheeseboard, or sausages off the grill when the British summer finally turns up. There's a feel-good story here too: Indaba channels a share of its sales into early childhood education in the Cape Winelands. We deliver across the UK, so a Cape favourite is only a few days from your table.
Food Pairing
This is a midweek hero. The soft tannins and juicy fruit love a simple roast chicken, a cottage pie, or a Friday-night burger off the grill. It has just enough structure for a bowl of spaghetti bolognese or a sausage and tomato casserole, and the herbal edge makes it a natural with a mushroom risotto. Nothing fussy required: good food, good company, done.
- —Roast chicken with thyme and lemon
- —Classic beef cottage pie
- —Spaghetti bolognese
- —Grilled beef burgers with mature Cheddar
- —Mushroom and Parmesan risotto
How to Serve
Decanting
No decanting needed. This is an open-and-pour style, though ten minutes in the glass lets the cherry and mocha notes settle and round out a little.
Behind the Wine
The Western Cape works to a Mediterranean rhythm: warm, dry summers, cool wet winters, and very little rain during the late-summer ripening that matters most. The real secret is the cold Benguela current offshore, sending cooling sea breezes across the vineyards just as temperatures peak. That breeze lets the grapes ripen slowly and hold onto their freshness, which is exactly why this Merlot tastes so bright and succulent rather than heavy or baked.
Ageing Potential
Built for easy, early drinking rather than the cellar. Enjoy it young, within a couple of years of release, while the bright cherry fruit and velvety texture are at their freshest. There is no need to wait: this is a wine to open and enjoy now.
The Land
These vines, between twelve and twenty years old, are rooted in a varied mix of decomposed granite, weathered shale, clay and sandy loam. It is soil with a useful trick: it holds moisture well through dry summers, keeping the vines steady and the fruit even. That balance shows in the glass as plush, velvety texture and a fine thread of minerality.
The Winemaking
This is Merlot kept clean and honest. The bulk is fermented and raised in stainless steel, locking in that fresh cherry and plum fruit without any heaviness getting in the way. A small portion sees time in 225-litre French oak barrels for around sixteen months, just enough to lend a whisper of mocha and warmth around the edges. A dash of Cabernet Sauvignon adds a little backbone. The result is velvety, approachable, and built for easy everyday drinking.
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
Indaba
Indaba takes its name from the Zulu word for a meeting of the minds, and that spirit runs through everything the label does. Born as a celebration of a new South Africa, the project has always paired honest, affordable winemaking with a serious commitment to the communities behind the bottle. A share of every sale funds the Indaba Foundation, which supports early childhood development across the Cape Winelands, training Montessori teachers and building learning spaces for the children of vineyard workers. The wines themselves come from long partnerships with conscientious growers in prime Cape appellations, farmers who have spent generations learning their land. It's wine with a conscience, and it shows in the glass.