What all top SA Shiraz will be measured against in 2013
YOU MIGHT BE led to believe that Chris and Andrea Mullineux came up with what the team of tasters for the 2013 edition of Platter’s South African Wine Guide rated 5 Stars and voted Red Wine of the Year based on attention to detail, leaving nothing to chance… But of course there’s a lot more to the 2010 Mullineux Syrah than that! Having worked in cellars around the world, including some of the best in Europe, America and South Africa before settling on Riebeek-Kasteel as the place to make masterpieces of their own, the couple are on course to rank with the top winemakers in the country – albeit with just three vintages on the market under the Mullineux label.
These folk are not of the rock star ilk a la Eben Sadie or living on the wild side as per the long-maned Adi Badenhorst. Chris studied accountancy before switching to grape farming and winemaking at the University of Stellenbosch, whereas Andrea grew up in San Francisco and learnt about viticulture and oenology at UC Davis before heading to the Napa Valley, France and the winelands of the Cape. But like others at the cutting-edge of winemaking in the Swartland, it’s a tightrope that they walk in balancing what Mother Nature has dealt out to conjure up the wonders that they do.
In the vineyards they favour sustainable farming methods, adding and removing as little as possible. In the cellar their approach is equally minimalist and as natural as they dare: fermenting their flagships in barrel rather than tank; steering clear of cultivated yeasts, supplements and fining/filtering agents; keeping the use of sulphur to a minimum for stability and longevity; preferring large barrels and used vats rather than new oak, containing the influence of wood on the character of what goes into the bottle.
The emphasis is to make wines that are expressive of the Swartland, of the geology of the area, of the very shale, schist, granite and iron-rich soils that the vines are grown in on the Kasteelberg, Paardeberg and west of Malmesbury. Chris concedes that the warm Swartland climate (bloody hot in summer) makes it difficult to produce great wines from single sites and he’s convinced that blending vineyards is normally the way to go. But that said, after eight years of fine-tuning they’ve produced 1000 bottles of very terroir-specific Schist Syrah and a similar amount of Granite Syrah from the 2010 vintage, which at R675 a bottle “offer a special insight into the Swartland”.
| Mullineux Syrah 2010 was matured for 11 months in French oak barrels up to 2000 litres in size, only 15% new wood |
“What do we feel about the Platter’s tastes regarding the standard version as the best of the three?” ponders Chris. “It’s great, because we have more of the standard Syrah to sell (some 16 500 bottles). The ‘standard’ Syrah (R225 a bottle) is possibly showing better at the moment,” he says, suggesting that the wines should be at their best in 10 years’ time or so.
Included in the couple’s tasting note for their 2010 Mullineux Syrah: perfumed, notes of black pepper, refined black fruit, smoke and herbs; spicy, with a silky texture; long finish. Best served at 16 to 18 degrees C, and “this wine will greatly benefit from decanting when drunk within the first three to five years after bottling.”
