The Merlot is planted on the eastern and northern slopes of the Mystic Winery vineyard, and only the best quality fruit is selected for the Reserve range. The fruit was de-stemmed and carefully sorted before the berries were gently fed into the top of the fermentation tanks on the lower level of the winery. The must was then cold soaked to extract colour, tannin and flavour compounds from the skins. During fermentation, the juice was pumped over the skins to extract more colour and tannin. Post fermentation, the wine was drained from the tank and put into a mix of French oak barrels to complete malolactic fermentation and mature on yeast lees before being blended and bottled.