The premium boutique estate of Holden Manz is nestled in the beautiful Franschhoek Valley and stands as one of the most impressive winery visits available to tourists. The Holden Manz wine range is indeed extensive, with multiple white, Rose and red cuvees produced, but it’s their Reserve wines range that draws more attention than possibly even their super premium Elysium prestige cuvee.
The Reserve red wine range consist of the Holden Manz Merlot Reserve, the Cabernet Franc Reserve, and their Reserve Syrah, three wines that every year can be counted among the top red fine wines produced in the Franschhoek Valley. The Holden Manz wine style is unashamedly plush, opulent and hedonistic with “plenty of meat on the bone” when it comes to concentration and depth of fruit. What makes their three Reserve reds even more interesting is the way French winemaker Thierry Haberer manages to impart ample elegance, finesse and classical balance to these impressively dense and powerful wines. I recently tasted two of the three long awaited 2021 Reserve expressions to see what Thierry had crafted in this unusually long, cool vintage in the Cape.
Owner Gerard Holden at the winery.
Holden Manz Merlot Reserve 2021, WO Franschhoek, 14% Abv.
A deep, dark, opaque purple colour, this premium Cuvee boasts rich alluring aromatics of sweet cedar oak, red toffee apples, grilled nuts, nougat and sweet molasses hints before vibrant notes of mulberry, black currant and sweet black plums emerge. The palate is fabulously opulent and plush with a rich luxurious textural density that’s seamlessly creamy, broad and hedonistic. But true to the Reserve’s style, it carries off its richness, power and concentration with an effortless elegance and ease thanks to the vintage’s underlying freshness and suppleness. Lovers of Holden Manz’s premium wines will revel in this delicious wine’s intensity and right bank Pomerol’esque plushness and elegance.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Tasting the 2020 Reserve at the Estate with Gerard Holden in March 2024.One of the Cape’s stand out Cabernet Franc reds.
Holden Manz Cabernet Franc Reserve 2021, WO Franschhoek, 14% Abv.
This is another highly anticipated wine from the 2021 vintage, and in true form, the Reserve range from Holden Manz delivers again… in spades. Deep, dark and opaque in colour with a delicate ruby rim, the aromatics on this cuvee is wonderfully rich and opulent, with succulent layers of perfumed black currant, black plum compote, cherry cola and sweet sappy cedar spice that is intertwined with vanilla pod and brown breakfast toast nuances. In the mouth, the wine is rich, broad, and luxurious, with an intricate fine grained textured but also luscious layers of black cherry, crème de cassis, pecan pie, and seductive freshly baked blueberry crumble notes on a vanilla pod-tinged finish. Seamless premium oaking together with a cool freshness, impressive complexity, and an all-round harmonious balance leave you gasping for another sip. Bravo Gerard and Thierry! Drink now on release and over the next 8 to 10+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Holden Manz wines are available retail in the UK from South African Specialist Merchant Museum Wines, and to the wine trade from Vindependents.
The soils from this warm Compagniesdrift north facing slope on the Meerlust Estate are predominantly formed from weathered granite. The wines originating from this granitic hilltop are expressive and bold in structure, mainly due to their coarse gravelly texture and sufficient soil depth to promote long and even ripening. The Quarry – the extremely rocky terrain consisting of greywacke with interbedded shales soils provides a unique substrate for vines. Shallow rooted vines on this cool and windswept foot slope leads to wines with characteristic red and black berry fruits with exceptional length, detail, and precision.
The 2020 post-harvest period was characterised by very hot and dry conditions, which led to early leaf fall, especially in early ripening cultivars. The winter rainfall started late, but regular cold fronts contributed almost 100 mm more precipitation than in the previous season. Soil profiles were well saturated, and farm dams returned to pre-drought levels.
Merlot grapes on the estate.
The budding period was particularly cool and wet, and low soil temperatures delayed bud break by up to 14 days. Despite sustained cool conditions, the flowering and fruit set periods were moderate and ideal. Véraison followed the seasonal trend and was generally up to 14 days later than the previous season.
The Meerlust homestead.
Ripening was consistently about 10-14 days later than the previous year, and the ripening period was very moderate. This resulted in good hang times, minimal harvesting pressure and allowed for optimum picking. Although yields are lower, the grape composition and preliminary wine quality of the 2021 vintage showed immediate promise. The wines have intensity and freshness coupled with a fine tannin structure.
Meerlust Estate Merlot 2021, WO Stellenbosch, 14.28% Abv.
2.71g/l | RS 6.33g/l TA | 3.48pH
This stunning 2021 vintage is a pure 100% Merlot (some years can include snippets of Petit Verdot or Cabernet Franc) made up of several select parcels that were fermented separately before undergoing malolactic fermentation in 300 litre oak barrels. After six months in barrel, the final components were carefully selected and blended before being put back into barrel for a further 12 months in 40% new French oak before bottling. This long cool vintage really lends itself to the more classically leaning old world style of Meerlust’s wines, and this Merlot is beautifully distinguished revealing aromatics of dusty granite, damson plums, black currants, black tea, wet tobacco, and sweet herbs that offer a subtle sapidity to the plush alluring nose. Delicately saline reductive black cherry notes follow on to the palate that is broad, luxurious, and creamy with a medium bodied density but also the most seductively elegant fine-grained tannins. This seamlessly complete expression of Merlot must rank among the finest the winery has produced to date with a notably fresh vein of acidity wonderfully integrated into the plush, chocolatety, Pomerol-styled finish. Drink now until 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines of Meerlust Estate are imported into the UK by Maison Marques et Domaines (MMD) and retails for circa £26pb.
This impressive Black Series Cap Classique uses Pinot Noir grapes harvested from the Elgin region and Chardonnay from the cool Agulhas region. Elgin has a wonderfully cool climate where the vines grow in sandstone soils laced with silica quartz fragments and acidic Bokkeveld shales rich in iron.
The Chardonnay is grown on Quoin Rock’s Boskloof farm on Koffieklip and gravel soils where the vines are also exposed to the cooling influences of the Atlantic Ocean air ensuring that the berries ripen evenly while retaining a vibrant natural acidity. The grapes were harvested from different sections of the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blocks at different times before being transported to the vinification cellar located in Stellenbosch.
Made from a final blend of 54% Chardonnay and 46% Pinot Noir that was all harvested in February 2017, vinified and then aged on its lees for 5 years. The wine was bottled on the 23rd of September 2022, and while the 2018 release is also currently on sale, this pretty 2017 MCC is still available cellar door for R900 per bottle (£38pb).
Quoin Rock Black Series Cap Classique 2017, WO Western Cape, 12.91% Abv.
8.7g/l RS | 8.0g/l TA | 3.05pH
A bright shimmering bronze gold, the aromatics are striking, packed full of lemon and lime peel, salty brine, salted pistachios, honey brittle candy before savoury, leesy, brioche nuances develop in the glass. The palate steals the show with a density, intensity, and superb freshness combined with a harmonious balancing pear and white citrus length, carried with purity and precision on a piercing, creamy moussed finish. This really is a classy Cap Classique wine that can challenge some of the best premium Champagne cuvées out there. Drink now and over the next 5 to 8+ years.
As the anticipation builds across global markets for the impending new release of the 2021 Vin de Constance, I was fortuitously seduced by a bottle of the current release 2020 in my cellar. Hot off the heels of scoring the iconic Mullineux Wines Olerasay 4º Straw Wine a hefty 99/100, I thought it wise to recalibrate my palate ahead of tasting the 2021 Vin de Constance. As clearly the top two sweet wine icons in South Africa, these two wines, on their own, have done more than any others to re-invigorate the sweet wine category globally, reminding fine wine collectors and connoisseurs that no cellar collection is complete without at least a few bottles of these liquid gold gems on the racks.
Whether your penchant is for Sauternes, Port or Madeira, or perhaps something more exotic and sweet from the Jurançon in France or Setubal in Portugal, these incredible wines, forged in style over centuries, have an important cultural standing in the broader fine wine industry. The obsession with anything sweet being banished from our diets negates the stark truth that these incredibly delicious wines are the perfect start or end to an evening of vinous indulgence, when enjoyed amongst company, with suitably paired food, and in moderation.
But there are no names greater than the famed Vin de Constance. Revived by the Klein Constantia Estate in 1986, the latest 2020 vintage release also marks the 33rd released from the winery as the 2003 and 2010 vintages were not produced. The 2020 was another exceptional vintage with moderate weather patterns, low rainfall, and windy conditions contributing to a smaller, more concentrated harvest of berries. It was also the coolest since 2016 with 2,582 sunshine hours.
Estate grown and sourced from a combination of both trellised and bush vines, with the oldest block being planted back in 1983, this 37 year old plot is joined by numerous others including the youngest at four years old, taken from cuttings of the original Muscat de Frontignan that was imported to the Cape in the 1650’s. Starting on the 6th of March, the Vin de Constance 2020 harvest was completed within 3 weeks resulting in a total of 19 separate passes through the vineyards.
Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2020, WO Constantia, 13.5% Abv.
174g/l RS | 6.3g/l TA | 3.92pH
Made from 100% Muscat de Frontignan aged one and a half years in 50% new, 500 litre Hungarian and French oak barrels, followed by the same time in large-format wooden foudre, the barrels were then tasted and sorted with the best being chosen for the final blend. The 2020 continues very much in the same vein as Matt Day’s previous vintage creations, erring slightly more towards pale gold in colour, before the expressive, lifted fragrant aromatics assault the senses with wave after wave of complex perfume and yellow fruit nuances. More Sauternes like on the nose than many previous iterations, wafts of dried apricots, peach preserve, quince paste, and grape jelly rise out the glass, while all the while, one needs to remind oneself that this wine has no botrytis or noble rot on it whatsoever. With a short time in the glass to open its shoulders, the complexity of the wine is further reinforced with hints of melted honey on warm white toast, bitter orange peel marmalade, yellow raisins, candied ginger preserve, salted caramel, and toasted brioche on the long, indulgent, hedonistic palate. This 2020 is texturally seamless in the mouth with a honied peaches and cream elegance together with soft, tangy, incredibly well integrated acids helping to keep the richness and opulence in a perfectly refined balance. Drink now on release or comfortably over the next half century.
(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Wines of Klein Constantia are imported and distributed into the UK trade by Mentzendorff Wines. The Vin de Constance is also available directly from select negociants at the Place de Bordeaux. The approximate release price for the 2020 was circa £60 per bottleinc.
It’s been over two decades since Paul Boutinot set up his Waterkloof Winery in 2003 on the slopes of the Helderberg in Stellenbosch. As a wine merchant at the time who was buying a lot of wine from Paul’s UK wine merchant company, Boutinot Wines, I certainly watched this new project with a lot of interest. Both Paul, and son Louis, were always adamant that the “Waterkloof” brand would only ever be used for the winery’s highest quality wines, and as such, this would take some time for the winemaking and vineyards to evolve to a point where this was possible. As a result, consumers have become well acquainted with Waterkloof’s Circumstance brand in the interim.
Roll forward to 2024 and we see their new Waterkloof Boreas Cape Bordeaux Blend produced by winemaker Nadia Langenegger, released at the winery. A blend of 51% Cabernet Franc, 24% Merlot, 14% Petit Verdot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the best parcels that are farmed regeneratively used in this blend that saw a whole-bunch wild yeast fermentation (with the exception of the Cabernet Sauvignon), foot-trodden in 9000 litre French oak open top foudre. The resulting wine was aged for 27 months in French oak barriques, with a 10% new component, as well as in the 9000 litre French oak foudre. The finished wine saw a gentle filtration with no fining or additives added other than a small amount of sulphur at bottling.
Waterkloof Winery Boreas 2020, WO Stellenbosch, 14% Abv.
The 2020 vintage in the Cape is known for its softer, more elegant, and accessible red expressions and this new Waterkloof release fits tightly into the broader generalities of the vintage. The aromatics are packed full of violets, graphite and iodine with pronounced notes of grilled red capsicum, dried herbs, fynbos and an intense sappy cedar spice complexity that melts into sweet black currant and mulberry fruits on a cool, creamy, finely textured palate. Picante and beautifully complex, the finish is silky and fine grained with lots of powdery black tea tannins, subtle complexing herby pyrazines, and a long, dusty, granitic tobacco spice finish. A very sleek, polished, dynamic wine with a high degree of winemaking flair on display. Drink this accessible 2020 vintage expression now on release and over the next 8-12+ years.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines are distributed to the trade in the UK by Boutinot Wines and retails for circa £30 per bottle.
One of the true wine gems in the Mullineux portfolio, the Olerasay sweet wine now stands alongside Vin de Constance as one of South Africa’s greatest sweet wine creations. Only in its fourth edition, this latest multi-vintage release from the Mullineux’s Chenin Blanc straw wine solera system is again a world class stunner that will leave the fussiest of global fine wine lovers speechless.
Mullineux Olerasay 4º Straw Wine is made from 100% Chenin Blanc and was bottled on the 16th of January 2024, with a total production of 4,472 bottles or 372 cases of 375ml bottles. The vineyards chosen to make this balanced, yet very sweet and incredibly special Straw Wine are naturally very high in acid, flavour and good physical structure. To achieve these qualities, the calibre of the old vine Chenin Blanc planted on the decomposed Granite based soils of the Paardeberg are fundamental. The grapes were hand-harvested between 2008 and 2023 with a yield on average 4 to 6 tons/ha, which translated to 24 to 33HL/ha before the desiccation process. The average post-drying recovery was 10-20%, translating to 2.4 to 6.6 HL/ha. By picking the grapes at normal ripeness and then drying them in the breezy outside conditions for the desiccation process, the Mullineuxs are not just concentrating sugar and flavour, but also increasing the intense, zesty acidity that they feel is so important in making a balanced Straw Wine.
Tasting the Olerasay 4º in London with Chris Mullineux.
After drying for several weeks, the grapes were crushed and pressed to 225L barrels where a long, slow natural fermentation took place. Each year the fermentation stops at a natural balance after 8 to 12 months. A vintage Straw Wine is always bottled however a few barrels were selected to go into a complex Solera system of barrel-aging that was started with the first Mullineux vintage in 2008. The Mullineuxs decided to bottle the first iteration of OLERASAY 1º which was a fractional blend of 2008 to 2014 when it was different enough from the vintage Straw Wine, followed by the 2º in 2020 and the 3º in 2022. The respective fractionally blended OLERASAY 4º comprises of the 2008 through 2023 vintages, which is incredibly complex, bringing unstoppable length and freshness.
Mullineux Olerasay 4º Straw Wine, WO Swartland, 8% Abv.
365 g/l RS | 11.4 g/l TA | 3.33pH
A deep alluring golden honeycomb yellow colour, this deliciously sweet, opulent blend boasts a vital and complex aromatics of dried apricots, peach skins, fynbos spice and orange marmalade nuances before subtle notes of wet hay, honeycomb, bees wax, grilled cashew nuts and caramelised yellow grapefruit emerge. For all the unfurling complexity on the nose, it’s the incredible intensity and balance on the palate that really sets this wine apart, with a concentrated zingy depth of dried apricots and passionfruit harmonising perfectly with a searing, tangy acidity that lightens the sugar sweetness and leaves your palate salivating for another sip. The finish is long, delicately saline and truly multi-dimensional, with lingering notes of candied oranges, crystallised figs and stem ginger. This is not only one of the greatest sweet wine expressions in South Africa, but undoubtedly, one of the most beguiling, complex and intellectually engaging sweet wines in the world of fine wine. A wine not to be missed. Drink on release and over the next 20 to 30+ years.
Following the atypically long and cool 2021 vintage which made for some iconic red wines, the Swartland weather seems to have returned to its more usual pattern of hot and dry growing conditions for 2022. The region saw good winter rains and then the return of some heat spikes during verasion from January to March… “intermittent spikes more than heat waves” Chris Mullineux explained, followed by cooler evenings which helped mitigate some of the earlier daytime heat. Generally picked later than average – late February compared to early February due to the later start – the vintage is widely regarded as a great success in the Swartland.
All wines were tasted from Zalto Bordeaux glasses and reviewed over the course of three days.
Mullineux Granite Jakkalsfontein Syrah 2022, WO Swartland, 13.5% Abv.
2.2g/l RS | 5.5g/l TA | 3.67pH
The fruit for the 2022 GRANITE Syrah hails from bush vines planted in the decomposed Granitic soils of the Paardeberg and this wine has become the Single Terroir red most synonymous with gorgeously perfumed aromatics, freshness and length. These characteristics are mainly driven by each vine having to work intensely hard to get to the water source seated deep within the GRANITE soil structure. The GRANITE Syrah was hand-harvested on 21st and 22nd of February 2022 with yields of five tons/ha, which translated to 28HL/ha. In the cellar, the whole bunches benefitted from the protection of a cool early morning picking and were put into 500L French oak open top fermenters. Once crushed by foot, the indigenous fermentation process started, and very gentle extraction was achieved by doing punch-downs by hand. To accentuate the refined tannin structure of its GRANITE terroir origin, the wine was given skin contact for 28 days before being gravitationally drained and then pressed back into the same vessels for malolactic fermentation and further maturation. The 2022 was matured for 12 months in French oak 500L barrels of which 50% was new, followed by 10 months in 2000L Foudre. Once bottled, the wine was aged for another eight months before it was released.
Made with fruit from a warmer vintage, Chris Mullineux says it was a ripe year but certainly nothing unusual for the Swartland – certainly more normal than the 2021 vintage conditions. On these deeper granitic soils, the vines grow larger, and the canopies are bigger and wider, shading the fruit, resulting in a more perfumed offering. The aromatics are certainly wonderfully fragrant and lifted with exotic notes of violets, lavender, and potpourri spice with a lovely melange of red and black berry fruits, pink musk, red peppercorns, and subtle orange rind hints. The palate is sleek and super elegant, pithy even, with plenty of dry extract, a chalky tannin grip and a harmoniously intense finish. Plenty of richness and creamy elegance but perhaps a little less taut, severe, and mineral than this vineyard normally presents in youth. Another very pretty expression. (405 cases produced)
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Mullineux Iron Kasteelsig Syrah 2022, WO Swartland, 13.5% Abv.
1.6g/l RS | 5.1g/l TA | 3.82pH
Grown on the IRON soils of the rolling red hills surrounding Malmesbury, this organic vineyard is well-established on the clay and gravel-rich Koffieklip soils that are good at holding water. The soil-bed becomes generous during primary growth in the spring, but then around veraison time the clay in the soils stops releasing moisture and the vine compensates during this quick ripening phase by making the smallest grapes of the three terroirs. This factor, combined with the lush canopy and medium-thick skins of the berries play a very important role in the natural construct of a Syrah with round tannins, an incredible complex palate and deep fragrance. The grapes were hand-harvested on 8th of February 2022 while the morning was still cool and yielded 4.5 tons/ha, which translated to 22HL/ha. In order to accentuate the IRON terroir, the grapes were foot-stomped as 100% whole- clusters into open top 500L barrels where hand punch downs took place to encourage natural and very gentle extraction. The fermentation cycles completed with indigenous yeast and after a further four weeks of maceration, the wines were racked and pressed to these original vessels for its maturation period. This wine was aged for 12 months in French oak 500L barrels, of which 50% was new, followed by another 10 months in 2000L Foudre and eight months of aging in bottle before its release.
The first thing I noticed about this wine is the incredibly small production volume, a mere 210 cases in 2022, which Chris confirms is the smallest production volume to date. Much of this was due to very strict grape selection as well as the vineyard still struggling in general to come to terms with the hangover and long-term effects of years of drought. Like the Granite Syrah, this cuvee shows a slight departure from is normal broody, earthy, meaty, bloody Northern Rhone style. Instead the aromatics are gracefully peppery with layers of damson plums, black berries, violets, lavender, and red bramble berry notes. Finally, after time in the glass, a slight undertone of blood and iron emerges, but they are by no means as dominant as normal, with the palate decidedly round and fleshy, layered with blue and black berry fruits, sleek integrated acids, and delightfully firm, polished tight grained tannins. The finish shows hints of salty liquorice, coffee bean, a subtle sapidity, and chargrilled charcuterie nuances. A rather riper, more elegant expression of the Iron cuvee that retains a critical amount of its archetypal old-world charm.
(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Mullineux Schist Roundstone Syrah 2022, WO Swartland, 14% Abv.
1.8g/l RS | 5.2g/l TA | 3.80pH
These very special and characterful grapes grown on the Schisty slopes of the Kasteelberg or “Castle Mountain”, showcase the Mullineux’s estate Roundstone, and its tremendous ability to define Syrah grown on SCHIST soils. These rocky soils limit vine size and so the clusters and individual grapes in turn remain smaller with a higher skin to juice ratio, offering denser, more brooding tannins. The grapes were hand-harvested between 14th and 15thof February 2022 with a yield of 4.3 tons/ha, which translated to 26HL/ha. Safeguarded from the high-summer Swartland sun in February, the SCHIST Syrah was picked during the cool morning and the 100% whole bunches were immediately foot-crushed into 500L barrels. Only natural yeasts took the wine through its fermentations and only hand plunging were performed for completely gentle extraction – just enough to keep the cap wet. After four weeks it was racked and pressed back to the same open top barrels. This completed the tannin development and allowed its dark perfume to flourish. The SCHIST Syrah 2022 spent 12 months in 50% new and 50% 4th fill 500L French oak barrels and then another 10 months in 2000L Foudre before being bottled unfiltered.
The production quantity of the Schist 2022 was closer to the long-term average with 482 cases produced. The aromatics are wonderfully seductive and sophisticated, showing complex red and black berry fruit notes, violets, rose petals, fynbos, white pepper, before subtle hints of salted caramel, black berry compote and vanilla pod spice. Often a wine that is very showy in its youth, this 2022 has a certain purity, elegance, and classicism to it, but as Chris points out, also “a certain appealing Rhoney wildness that you don’t always find on the Schist”. An incredibly balanced and complete wine, there are complex notes of fynbos, garrigue, dried herbs, black berries, cured meats, and black peppercorns tempered with a seductively generous vanilla pod spice. This wine is a pyramid of elegance, power, and precision, with its massive textural stone construction blocks just slotting into one another that little bit more tightly and more precisely than with the Granite or Iron cuvees, revealing an architecturally detailed wine with a very impressive fruit-acid balance, flavour purity, and a notable palate intensity. A very serious and accomplished benchmark effort for the vintage.
(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Mullineux Wines are imported into the UK by Liberty Wines and are available retail on request from specialist South African merchant Museum Wines.
After the atypical vintage conditions of 2021, the Swartland seems to have returned to its more usual pattern of hot and dry growing seasons for 2022 and 2023. In 2022, the region saw good winter rains and then the return of some heat spikes during verasion from January to March… “spikes more than heat waves” as Chris Mullineux explained, followed by cool spells which helped mitigate the earlier heat. Generally picked later compared to average, late February compared to early February due to the later start. But as Chris points out, “Chenin Blanc, and to a certain degree Syrah as well, are more drought avoiding cultivars rather than drought resistant, being able to ripen their fruit earlier and quicker as opposed to just coping well with a long, dry hot harvest.”
The 2023 season also saw good winter rains above average and the season started pretty late, leading to a warm, dry vintage. From Veraison, the days were mostly over 30c, and every day was warm, but the evenings were cooler. A classic Swartland vintage. All reds were picked long before the storms hit the Cape when some Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek producers still had some late ripening red varieties hanging on the vines.
Tasting with Chris Mullineux
All wines were tasted from Zalto Bordeaux glasses and reviewed over the course of three days after opening.
Mullineux Granite Eikelaan Chenin Blanc 2023, WO Swartland, 14% Abv.
1.8g/l RS | 6.5g/l TA | 3.3pH
Hailing from a 47-year-old dry land bush vine vineyard named Eikelaan (“lane of Oak trees”), the GRANITE Chenin Blanc, is the Mullineux’s highest altitude Granite soil vineyard on the Paardeberg. Due to its root formations being able to travel quite deep in the decomposed granite terroir, the canopies remain full and provide cool shade to both the fruit and the vines, thus safeguarding them from temperature fluctuations and sun. This in turn culminates in a Swartland Chenin Blanc with great elevated freshness, retention of perfume and linear ageing. The grapes were harvested on the 16th of February 2023 with a yield of 4 tons/ha, which translated to 24HL/ha. Grapes were harvested by hand in the cool early morning hours, the grapes were then whole bunch pressed to barrel and the juice handled oxidatively, ensuring longevity of the wine once in bottle. Primary and secondary fermentation completed its natural respective cycles without any interference, after which minimal SO2 was added and, in line with their ethos, no further additions were made. The wine was left on the lees in its respective barrels until spring, then racked and blended just before the 2024 vintage and bottled unfiltered. The GRANITE Chenin Blanc wine was matured for 10 months in 225L French oak barrels.
This beautiful 1976 old vine Chenin Blanc serves up a wonderful array of flavours in this “classic Swartland vintage” in 2023. Normally lean, reductive and incredibly tight grained and mineral, this year’s expression of the Granite Chenin Blanc boasts a wealth of rich yellow stone fruits and plenty of white flowers, fynbos, sour plum, peach and yellow citrus perfume. There is definitely more density, palate breadth and depth while retaining its telltale linear, taut, mineral demeanour. Despite being a turbo charged expression, the 2023 Granite Chenin Blanc still has the highest acidity of the three single terroir wines, finely balancing intense bruised yellow orchard fruit and orange marmalade notes on the palate. The finish is super pure and concentrated, deliciously tangy and superbly balanced. A real beauty to drink now and over the next 10 to 15+ years. (469 cases produced)
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Mullineux Iron Rondomskrik Chenin Blanc 2023, WO Swartland, 13% Abv.
1.9g/l RS | 5.6g/l TA | 3.4pH
The ripening phase of the IRON Chenin Blanc bush vine vineyard is always ahead of their other single terroir Chenin Blancs and the 2023 vintage was no exception, producing the steadfast natural extract, balanced acidity, and alluring texture that they’ve grown accustomed to receiving from the Koffieklip soils where these vines live. This very special vineyard, now exclusively farmed for the IRON Chenin Blanc by the Mullineux team, is situated on the rolling hills outside of Malmesbury, enjoys cool nights and mild days during the growing season, which further contributes to the small and concentrated grapes of this Chenin Blanc. The grapes were hand-harvested on 2nd and 3rd of February 2023 with a yield of 4 tons/ha, which translated to 24HL/ha. This vintage being only the third ever release of the IRON Chenin Blanc, was managed in the cellar with the same attention to detail and careful handling of the delicate and tiny yield, as all our other wines. Both the primary and secondary fermentations spontaneously started and finished with indigenous yeast and a very small amount of Sulphur was added once the natural settling of the wine had completed. The wine was matured for 21 months in 225L French oak barrels.
Only the third vintage of the Iron single terroir Chenin Blanc produced (with the Quartz vineyard still going into the Old Vine White blend), this vineyard grown on a little knowl or hill, with persistent winds making for naturally small berries with a notable richness and ripeness, and also making this the earliest ripening of all the single vineyard sites. The aromatics are once again loaded with plenty of stone fruit complexity, beautifully perfumed with fragrant white flowers, honeydew melon, waxy orange peel, pineapple rock candy and a seductive soap stone minerality. A very confident wine showing great palate symmetry, a tight core of yellow fruits and hints of savoury lees, finishing with a lovely cool, lime lemon peel pith on the tangy fresh finish. A vibrant, harmonious wine that once again shows the highest levels of dry extract. Drink on release and over the next 10+ years. (506 cases produced)
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Mullineux Schist Roundstone Chenin Blanc 2023, WO Swartland, 14% Abv.
1.9g/l RS | 6.3g/l TA | 3.35pH
The home of Mullineux, Roundstone Farm, has become synonymous with their SCHIST soils, where these Chenin Blanc bush vines flourish due to the well-suited appellation, as well as being consistently sustainably farmed by the Mullineuxs. The rocky soils limit vine size and so the clusters and individual grapes in turn remain smaller with a higher skin to juice ratio. This contributes to the structure of this wine, and with each vintage, mirrors the freshness and pure sunshine that define their SCHIST Chenin Blanc. The grapes were hand-harvested between 7th and 8th of February 2023 with a yield of 5 tons/ha, which translated to 30HL/ha. Carefully picked during the cool daybreak, the fruit was whole bunched pressed into barrel where fermentation started spontaneously. Once all the natural yeasts and microbes completed their predestined purpose, the wine was left to voluntarily settle on its own. This Chenin Blanc spent seven months on its lees in barrel, ensued by racking, blending and unfiltered bottling to further showcase its Swartland SCHIST characteristics. The wine was matured for 21 months in 225L French oak barrels.
Produced from grapes grown in a vineyard just below the Mullineux’s main house on the Roundstone property on shallow rocky soils, with much smaller “bonsai-style” bush vines yielding small grapes loaded with extra phenolics and more exposure to the sunlight. The aromatics are rich, exotic, and intense, packed full of white and orange citrus, fynbos, nectarine, honey, white peaches, and juicy honeydew melon nuances. As Chris says, you can definitely taste the sunshine on the grapes with this 2023 Schist. The palate is equally intense and concentrated, boasting layer upon layer of peach, tangerine, and sour yellow plum fruit before a zesty, vibrant acidity kicks in to add freshness and extra frame to the mouthfeel. Finishing with a subtle leesy, buttered white toast complexity, this is definitely a very special premium Chenin Blanc release from the Mullineuxs. Drink on release and over the next 10 to 15+ years. (361 cases produced)
(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Mullineux Wines are imported into the UK by Liberty Wines and are available retail on request from specialist South African merchant Museum Wines.
The Old Vine Conference is a non-profit organisation co-founded in 2021 by Sarah Abbott MW, a Master of Wine contemporary of mine, Alun Griffiths MW (previously of Berry Brothers & Rudd) together with Leo Austin. Its aim is to bring together a global network and create a new category for wine from old heritage vineyards. The organisation shares the belief that old vines are a beacon for talent, innovation, and connection and that the best old vines yield uniquely transcendent wines, incomparably rich in savour, symbolism, and heritage.
The genetic material of ancient varieties, often retrieved from forgotten old vineyards, is now proving vital in adapting to climate change and old vines have their valiant and inspirational champions in pockets around the world. But the global wine market does not yet structurally value old vines or treat old vine wine as a premium category of rich and enduring worth. As a result, healthy old vineyards of cultural resonance and unique qualitative potential are lost because they can’t be made to pay.
The Old Vine Conference is an attempt to change the path for old vines and their wines and in its first three years has contributed exponentially to the awareness, understanding and support of the global old vine movement. The London tasting at 67 Pall Mall in June 2024 was one of the largest selections of old vine wines from around the world, representing old vines from 19 countries including a phenomenal selection of 21 white and red wines from South Africa, drawn from the Old Vine Project’s membership. My scores for the South African selection are noted below:
Wines from the Old Vine Project:
Bellingham Bernard Series Old Vine Chenin Blanc Limited Release 2023 – 95/100 GSMW
Le Grand Domaine, The Pledge Our Old Vine Chenin Blanc 2023, Stellenbosch – 94+/100 GSMW
Ahead of the second Springbok rugby test against Ireland, I thought I’d review a wine for all the devout rugby and wine connoisseurs out there. Tendai Mtawarira is a Zimbabwean-South African retired professional rugby union player who last played for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby and previously for the South Africa national team and the Sharks in Super Rugby, becoming one of the most capped front rowers for the Springboks ever.
He was born in Zimbabwe and qualified for South Africa on residency grounds, before later acquiring South African citizenship. Mtawarira, known by the nickname Beast, became the most capped prop ever for the Springboks with 117 test caps. Not only is he the most capped prop in South African history, he is also currently the fourth most capped Springbok of all time behind Blue Bulls legend Victor Matfield, Bryan Habana and Eben Etzebeth.
I recently caught up with Beast and ex-England rugby international, Simon Halliday, the UK importer of Beast’s wine, to see what all the fuss was about!
The Beast Wine Collection Cabernet Sauvignon – Syrah 2016, WO Franschhoek, 14.5% Abv.
Shows a dramatically fragrant aromatics of exotic sweet scented incense, Middle Eastern spices in a souk, with notes of rose water, Turkish tobacco, pomegranate, blood orange and deliciously mouthwatering black berry and saline creme de cassis nuances. Silky soft with sweet ripe tannins, the palate shows a creamy, opulent and generous texture with seamless Cabernet and Syrah integration through masterful blending, and a really sumptuous long finish. Really quite a fine tuned and classy wine with an understated power.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Wine is available from The Sporting Wine Club for circa £40 per bottle in a case of 6.
