Mullineux Family Wines Syrah 2011
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Syrah includes 20% whole bunch fruit and sees two to four weeks skin contact, before maturation in foudres for 11 months, 20% new. It has a vivacious, pretty, feminine bouquet with kirsch, dark cherry and a tang of marmalade, later a hint of peppermint developing in the glass. The palate is well-balanced with a fresh, quite fleshy entry. It is well-balanced, very supple in the mouth with a gradual build toward a sensual, subtly spiced finish that glides across the mouth. This is just lovely and so easy to drink.
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Wine Spectator
This red has guts and intensity, showing a lively briary edge that pushes the mouthfilling flavors of boysenberry compote, blackberry coulis and plum cake. Singed anise and apple wood notes drive the finish, where some serious grip slides in.
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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.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
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.