MEERLUST, beyond the Rubicon

191pp.,  b/w & colour illus., hardback, Jonathan Ball, Johannesburg, 2025

ISBN: 9781776194650

A history of Meerlust Wine Estate, located in the Stellenbosch wine district. The Myburgh family have tended the land for over three centuries and seven generations and transformed it into one of the country’s most revered wine estates.

For the first six generations of the Myburgh tenure, the vineyards were grown for making bulk batches of wine sold on to big traders dealing in the relatively unsophisticated world of South African wine at the time. The iconic Rubicon red Bordeaux blend, first made in 1980 by Nico Myburgh and his Italian-born winemaker Giorgio Dalla Cia, announced not only a new path for Meerlust and the Myburgh family, but also a revolution in wine style. Today, this legacy lives on under owner Hannes Myburgh and cellar master Wim Truter.

Emile Joubert is a marketing consultant in the wine industry. He is the author of So byna blou, a collection of short stories, and Krummels in my koffer, stories oor kos en plekke.