Signature Old Vine White 2021 Offer
This was one of the most sought after wines at our Christmas tasting. The new 2022 vintage lands soon and with quite a price rise in store we’ve thrown our arms around the remaining 2021 vintage – which those of you who tried it in December will testify, is nothing short of brilliant and another six months in bottle has only improved it.
Founded by Chris and Andrea Mullineux in 2007, this winery is now one of the most lauded in South Africa. Named ‘Winery of the Year’ five times by the Platter Guide in 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2023, Mullineux were also Tim Atkin MW’s ‘South African Winemakers of the Year’ in 2016. They chose the town of Riebeek-Kasteel, just west of Malmesbury in the Swartland, for its old vineyards on granite and schist soils, reasoning that, with such quality fruit, they would be able to make outstanding wines. It is an understatement to say they have been proved right.
Mullineux Signature, Old Vines Swartland White Blend 2021
£159 per six – very limited stocks before the new 2022 vintage arrives RRP £33.49SAVE OVER £40 per case
As always with great wines, the story starts in the vineyard. The Swartland is warm and dry in the summer and benefits from a cooling afternoon breeze from the Atlantic Ocean, which borders the Swartland to the West. Disease pressure is low, which, in turn, means spraying is kept to a minimum. While the trend in much of the rest of the world is to reintroduce native plants to vineyards to ensure a more balanced ecosystem, the fashion for monoculture in the 1970s and 1980s bypassed the Swartland. As a result, most of the vineyards that Chris and Andrea own and lease are planted amid native species like fynbos. These provide a home for native insects, which in turn act as predators of other insects that can damage the vines. Once again, this enables spraying to be kept to a minimum.
The Old Vines White is sourced from seven different low-yielding vineyards in the Swartland, with 62% Chenin Blanc being supplemented by 10% Clairette Blanche, 9% Viognier, 7% Grenache Blanc, 6% Semillon Gris, and 6% Verdelho.
The winemaking is style is whole bunch pressing and fermentation in barrel with 100% malolactic. It is aged for 11 months in a combination of old French oak 500-litre barrels and 2,000-litre foudre.