2017 Mullineux Syrah
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Tasting notes
Full bottle 1,399 g. Ambient yeast fermentation. Unfiltered. Transparent garnet. Very delicately handled Syrah grapes with some sweetness, real dried-herb character and freshness too. Not at all heavy or concentrated. A sincere expression of Swartland? Makes me think of those fields of dry-grown cereals... Clever mix of ripe fruit and savour. Both delicate and incredibly long. I wonder whether, like this year's Booker prize-winning novel The Promise, you need knowledge of South Africa to appreciate it to the full? Very clever winemaking and, one assumes, grape growing. (JR)
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Jancis Robinson MW
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Full bottle 1,400 g. A blend of sustainably-farmed parcels from across the Swartland. Four parcels are planted on the stony shale and schist-based soils of the Kasteelberg, which contribute mineral freshness to the final wine. Two parcels of dryland, bush vines grown in the decomposed granite of the Paardeberg add bold fruit. The final parcel comes from the iron-rich soils west of Malmesbury. The vines are aged between 22 and 30 years. This was another drought year. Each parcel was chilled with 90% added as whole bunches to tank and the remainder was destemmed. Minimal SO 2 was added and, as with all their wines, no further additions were made. To begin with, punching down was carried out once daily. After about four days, fermentation began with indigenous yeasts and the cap was then punched down once or twice a day, depending on extract and tannin development. Temperatures were kept below 28 °C. Fermentation lasted between seven and ten days. After this, the wine remained on its skins for three to seven weeks. Ageing took place for 14 months in 225-litre and 500-litre French oak barrels, of which 15% were new, and a 2,000 litre foudre. Mid bright garnet. A spicy form of Syrah – definitely not northern Rhône! Richer than that. Pleasing texture with some fine tannins still in evidence and some pretty ripe fruit. You are aware that the grapes were pretty dry and the wine is not as sleek as some previous vintages but this is an attractive savoury wine and expresses the drylands of the Swartland well. No hurry at all to drink this. (JR)
Syrupy nose, like cherry cordial. Peppery aromas too, followed by textbook meatiness on the palate – smoked bacon. Plenty of weight, but the tannins are spherical and roll smoothly across the tongue. You can feel the heat, but it's in balance with the fruit power. There's a lot of wine here for the money, and it's totally typical. The slightly short finish with bitter undertones is the only drawback. (RH)
The 2017 Syrah contains 90% whole-bunch fruit and sees 11 months in 500-liter oak barrels, 20% new. It has a lifted blackberry, raspberry and pomegranate bouquet, which is quite dense at the moment and showing just a touch of reduction. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy tannins on the entry. There is plenty of lovely red fruit here, laced with white pepper and clove. The precise finish lingers in the mouth. Very fine.
About the producer
Chris and Andrea Mullineux were at the forefront of South Africa’s new-wave movement and are now one of the country’s most established names. Alongside the Swartland project that made their name, they make wines in Franschhoek under the Leeu Passant name – a tribute to South Africa’s vinous past.