Mullineux Family Wines Old Vines White Blend 2013
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Blend: 80% Chenin Blanc, 13% Clairette Blanche, 7%Viognier
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Mullineux White is a blend of 7% Viognier, 80% Chenin Blanc and 13% Clairette including up to 80-year-old vines that is 100% barrel fermented with 15% to 20% new oak (foudre). It has a lovely nose of peach skin, apricot blossom, melted candle wax and just a faint fynbos/menthol scent. The palate is medium-bodied with a slight waxy, dried honey entry with hints of white pepper and lemongrass lending tension and vibrancy towards the zesty finish that displays good length. Superb.
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Wine Spectator
This is alluring, offering creamed yellow apple and pear fruit, laced with ginger, persimmon and quinine notes, all backed by a long blanched almond accent on the finish, imparting spine and energy. Chenin Blanc, Clairette Blanche and Viognier.
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Wine Enthusiast
This Chenin Blanc-based white, with 13% Clairette Blanc and 7% Viognier, boasts a harmonious blend of fruit and floral tones throughout. Scents of underripe tropical fruit, green plum, apple and lime peel are kissed with hints of rose petal, ginger and honeysuckle, while the medium-weight palate boasts ripe flavors of green melon and fleshy pear. A hint of white pepper and minty fynbos lingers on the clean finish.
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We are a small, highly focused Family winery based in the village of Riebeek Kasteel producing a select Family of hand-crafted wines from the granite and shale based terroirs of the Swartland Region of South Africa.
The Swartland is a beautiful and wild place. The landscape is a series of rolling hills, with a few significant outcrops of rock that form the Paardeberg, Riebeek Kasteel and Piketberg Mountains. It is not an easy place to establish vines, and is a region that has as much of an influence on the vineyards and people who farm there as the people have on the land itself. This brings to mind what film director David von Ancken has to say about the old American West: "The primal, universal power of the landscape strips away everything but the truth of men's souls." In much the same way, we feel the Swartland landscape bares the souls of grape vines, and in those varieties that can take the ruggedness, true personality of site is revealed.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
With an important wine renaissance in full swing, impressive red and white bargains abound in South Africa. The country has a particularly long and rich history with winemaking, especially considering its status as part of the “New World.” In the mid-17th century, the lusciously sweet dessert wines of Constantia were highly prized by the European aristocracy. Since then, the South African wine industry has experienced some setbacks due to the phylloxera infestation of the late 1800s and political difficulties throughout the following century.
Today, however, South Africa is increasingly responsible for high-demand, high-quality wines—a blessing to put the country back on the international wine map. Wine production is mainly situated around Cape Town, where the climate is generally warm to hot. But the Benguela Current from Antarctica provides brisk ocean breezes necessary for steady ripening of grapes. Similarly, cooler, high-elevation vineyard sites throughout South Africa offer similar, favorable growing conditions.
South Africa’s wine zones are divided into region, then smaller districts and finally wards, but the country’s wine styles are differentiated more by grape variety than by region. Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault, is the country’s “signature” grape, responsible for red-fruit-driven, spicy, earthy reds. When Pinotage is blended with other red varieties, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah or Pinot Noir (all commonly vinified alone as well), it is often labeled as a “Cape Blend.” Chenin Blanc (locally known as “Steen”) dominates white wine production, with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc following close behind.