Chris Mullineux was recently in London to showcase a superb retrospective of Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines Old Vine Whites from 2008 to current release 2017.

Interestingly, Chris mentioned that he thought 2003 was a date after which white blends really started to become famous with the release of now iconic white wines like Palladius from Eben Sadie. “At the time, it seemed a strange concept to blend Chenin Bland with exotic varieties like Roussanne, Viognier, Clairette Blanc, Verdelho etc. Now white blends are some of South Africa’s best wines in its offering.”

The Swartland is perfectly suited for white blends and Mulliineux Wines use Viognier, a pungent creamy grape that can be quite intense but is kept in check with the addition of small amounts of Clairette Blanche, with other varieties joining the blend for more recent vintages.

Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines Old Vines White Vertical Tasting Led by Chris Mullineux:

Mullineux Old Vine White 2008 (86% Chenin Blanc, 7% Clairette Blanche, 7% Viognier)

13.5% Abv, 2.4 RS, 5.9 TA, 3.41 pH
Subtle notes of honey, white toast, bruised yellow orchard fruits and saline, oxidative peachy notes. Lovely dusty mineral vein adding aromatic complexity. Incredibly rich and textural, honied and fleshy with an unctuous mouthfeel, sweet caramelised peach notes, herbal peach tea spice and a harmonious, glycerol broad mouthfeel. Very complex and classy, pure and vibrant with pleasing oxidative nuances.

(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Old Vine White 2009 (61% Chenin Blanc, 23% Clairette Blanche, 16% Viognier)

134% Abv, 3.4 RS, 5.7 TA, 3.25 pH
From a warmer year, this shows more pithy, dusty, fynbos herbal lift, with plenty of gravel and stone fruit aromatics. Notes of honey, dried peach and dried guava roll with a maritime saline lift. Palate is beautifully creamy, sleek and balanced with amazing fleshy, peachy pastille fruit, dried yellow fruits and a real focused, pinpoint, intense finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Old Vine White 2010 (80% Chenin Blanc, 10% Clairette Blanche, 10% Viognier)

13.5% Abv, 2.8 RS, 5.9 TA, 3.21 pH
Creamy, limey, waxy when it was young. Now the wine retains a more Burgundian presence with dusty vanilla pod, lemon pastille, dried mint leaf and baking herbs with subtle white citrus and granitic minerality. Palate is taut, mineral, focused and tight with honey and lime peel, lime cordial, buttered brown toast and a delicious crunchy, bright, crystalline green apple pastille finish. Young, bright and super youthful. Precision personified. Really exceptional!

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Tasting with UK based South African restauranteur Neleen Strauss and Chris Mullineux.

Mullineux Old Vine White 2011 (65% Chenin Blanc, 26% Clairette Blanche, 9% Viognier)

13% Abv, 2.3 RS, 5.7 TA, 3.38 pH
A more spicy, lifted, piquant nose with spicy roasted almonds, walnut skins, buttered sweet corn and ripe lemon cordial. Palate is finely balanced with fleshy soft mouthfeel, vanilla and white toast drizzled with honey finishing with a sleek creamy texture and wonderful focus and harmonious, mellow balance. Despite spicy oxidative notes on the bouquet, the palate is super fresh and youthful.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Old Vine White 2012 (76% Chenin Blanc, 16% Clairette Blanche, 8% Viognier)

13.5% Abv, 3.2 RS, 5.1 TA, 3.45pH
Quite an even vintage, not too hot or dry. Rich, creamy and round, with very fine purity, liquid mineral depth with pithy lemon peel, dusty gravel, piquant almond and roasted nuts. Palate is soft and broad, creamy and harmonious with quite a fleshy full mouthfeel, loaded with ripe glucerol fruit weight and finishes with very soft mellow acids. Cool and dreamy, still very youthful.

(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Old Vine White 2013 (80% Chenin Blanc, 13% Clairette Blanche, 7% Viognier)

13.5% Abv, 1.5 RS, 5.8 TA, 3.29 pH
Above average rainfall in the Swartland, this was the last vintage where the Mullineux’s owned none of their own vineyards. The nose is quite sappy and herbal with notes of fynbos, dried mint leaf, green apple, piquant almond skins and dusty chalky notes. Palate shows great tension, focus and a deep core of glycerol yellow orchard fruit weight. Creamy yet fresh, crystalline and taut with out being too fat. Very youthful but in a slightly awkward phase at the moment. Leave in the cellar!

(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Old Vine White 2014 (73% Chenin Blanc, 13% Clairette Blanche, 10% Viognier, 4% Semillon Gris)

13.5% Abv, 2.7 RS, 5.6 TA, 3.5 pH
A big ripe opulent wine loaded with peach purée, honey, white toast and crushed gravel minerality. Plenty of aromatic gusto and power leading to a palate that equally shows impressive power and depth all in a subtly restrained framework of elegance and harmony. Peaches and creamy, lemon pastille, peach bon bons and a harmonious, mellow intense finish. Super young and backward, texturally very fine, but needs more time to blossom. A real classic and one of Andrea’s personal favourites.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Old Vine White 2015 (74% Chenin Blanc, 12% Clairette Blanche, 6% Viognier, 4% Semillon Gris, 4% Grenache Blanc)

14% Abv, 2.2 RS, 5.2 TA, 3.30pH
After a wet 2014, this year saw around half of the annual rainfall with most falling in winter and almost none in summer months. Yields were naturally low and some fruit was dropped. The wine shows great textural intensity and concentration but also fine freshness and power. The nose is full of white blossom, pineapple pastille, citrus rock candy and creamy lemon biscuits. The palate follows the nose showing massive intensity, huge peachy concentration and a long crystalline finish. Young and bold, bury this in your cellar for 5 to 8+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Old Vine White 2016 (62% Chenin Blanc, 15% Grenache Blanc, 11% Viognier, 8% Clairette Blanche, 4% Semillon Gris)

13% Abv, 2.5 RS, 5.1 TA, 3.31 pH
Very dusty and chalky with notes of dry bush veld and fynbos, sweet botanical herbs and a savoury, peachy, earthy bruised orchard fruit complexing note. Palate is taut and tight, showing impressive tension and precision, a delicious orange peel and honeysuckle note and a superbly long, concentrated finish that shows the intensity of a drought year but also the precision of expert winemaking using fruit from great terroirs. Delicious now but certainly a keeper.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Old Vine White 2017 (65% Chenin Blanc, 13% Grenache Blanc, 10% Clairette, 10% Viognier, 2% Semillon Gris)

13.5 Abv. 2.1 RS, 5.6 TA, 3.46 pH
Second year of drought with 280mm rain and slightly more than 2016 with some falling in January to help the vines recuperate as they neared harvest time. Following in the vein of the larger more complex blend, the wine shows massive aromatic complexity unfurling layers of dusty white peach, dried herbs, citrus blossom, honey, yellow fruits and a pronounced liquid mineral intensity. The palate shows spectacular focus and precision, pin point textural harmony and balance where the wine slips off the tongue leaving a powerful, unctuous, long, concentrated imprint on the senses. Super interplay between fruit intensity, acid freshness and liquid minerality with intelligent winemaking drawing the best out of these great Swartland terroirs. A very very impressive wine indeed. Another one for the cellar!

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux Radicales Libres White blend 2012, WO Swartland, 14.5 Abv.

(76% Chenin Blanc, 16% Clairette Blanche, 8% Viognier) Deliciously alluring nose showing incredible richness and high tone complexity. Super exotic with notes of peach tea, vanilla pod spice, lemon biscuits, orange blossom pastille, dried yellow peaches and subtle hints of barley sugar. The palate reveals incredible richness and fruit concentration where you really feel the power of the wine amplified by the process of extended, oxidative barrel ageing. There is cedar spice, creamy vanilla wood tannins but also such incredible length that the palate gives the illusion of an addition of dollop of straw, ginger, grapefruit and candied fig. Incredible expression. Drink now to 2040+. Another unicorn wine from the Mullineux’s and one of my Top 10 SA Whites of 2018.

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Many thanks to Berry Bros and Rudd for hosting this fascinating tasting in their St James’s Cellars. Mullineux Wines available to the trade in the UK through Fields, Morris & Verdin.