Mullineux wines - Swartland beauts
I was at Terroirs the other day tasting with Andrea and Chris, the owner-winemakers of Mullineux. I met Chris last year, was impressed by his quiet articulacy and the philosophy he espoused. He had worked harvests at estates that we know well, talked confidently about organic viticulture and evidently advocated minimal interventions.
The Mullineux vineyards are scattered around different parts of the Swartland, and each is treated according to its specific needs. They are dry-farmed, which allows natural concentration in the wines, and ensures the vines properly reflect the character of each vintage.
Dry farming also helps to prevent excessive vigor, which further helps reduce disease pressure. Vine training and management (pruning and suckering) is aimed at maintaining open healthy canopies, and balanced yields. Yields are roughly 24 to 36 hl/ha, which is optimal for the area.
By reducing the use of chemical sprays and fertilisers, and not using weed-killers, they try to promote microbial activity in the soils. Composts are applied where necessary to provide nutrients and improve life and structure in soils.
Cover cropping is also practiced to maintain healthy, balanced insect populations and help with nitrogen assimilation. Cover crops are not sprayed or cut down, but are left to act as a mulch, and they are mixed and alternated to obtain maximal diversity and benefits.
Grapes from the Swartland give a lot in the way of natural extract and character, and to maintain elegance make sure not to go crazy on extraction. On average this means one or two gentle pigeages per day through fermentation, and a longish 4 to 6 week total maceration which helps to focus and round off tannins.
Wines are pressed directly to barrel for malolactic fermentation and maturation. Though all the wines are aged in French oak barrels, the amount of new wood is adjusted so that it does not interfere with the personality of the vineyard. Larger barrels (called demi-muids) of 500L are used. The wines are racked as infrequently as possible, and are bottled when ready, unfiltered and generally unfined, with moderate sulphur levels.
Hand picked grapes are cooled in a cold room, where after the Viognier is destemmed directly to tank, and macerated on the skins for 4 to 5 days before pressing. The Chenin, Clairette, Roussanne and Grenache blanc are pressed whole-bunch, and the juice is allowed to settle overnight. 20ppm SO2 is added, and no other additions are made. The juice is the racked to barrel for fermentation. Fermentation is with indigenous yeasts, and lasts up to 6 weeks. After fermentation, the wine is allowed to go through malolactic fermentation if it wants, and is left without sulphur on its lees until spring. A small amount of batonnage takes place if necessary for mouthfeel. The barrels are racked and blended just before the following vintage and bottled unfiltered.The Mullineux white is matured 11 months in used (3rd and 4th fill) French oak barrels.
Lemon-straw in colour, this wine has a nose of crushed rocks, green citrus, cloves and a floral perfume. The palate is full, rich and has a mineral core, with a fresh, clove-like finish. It has a wonderful Roussillon-like bouquet that soars from the glass with touches of white flower, fennel and grapefruit. The palate is very well balanced with freshly cut lime, grapefruit once again, citrus lemon and a touch of passion fruit. Very well crafted, nice weight on the slightly waxy-textured, almost smoky finish with a hint of fennel and vanilla returning on the back palate.
The wine has great texture in the mouth, very much the sum of its parts. It is warm, but the alcohol is part of the character, the oak is supportive and the stony, herbal quality recalls the Mediterranean origins of the grapes.
The grapes for the Straw Wine come from a single parcel of 30 year old Chenin blanc planted in the stony-shale-and-schist-based soils of Riebeek Kasteel Mountain. This is the parcel of Chenin that gives the best acidity at harvest. Yields are 25 Hl/ha. Final yields after drying are around 6 HL/ha.
Grapes are harvested at normal ripeness levels of 23 Brix. They are left to dry outdoors in the shade for roughly three weeks. This process allows moisture to evaporate from the berries, concentrating the sugars, acids and flavour. When the grapes have shrivelled half way to becoming raisins and the sugar has increased to about 48 Brix, they are brought to the cellar where they are crushed and pressed (for 36 hours) whole bunch, and racked directly to old 225L barrels. A small amount of sulphur is added to inhibit bacteria, and fermentation is allowed to proceed naturally, without any other additions being made. Fermentation takes roughly 6 months, and ends naturally (when the yeast simply can’t ferment any further!). To build complexity, the barrels are not topped, and the wine is bottles unfiltered and unfined. Maturation takes place for 11 months in used (5th fill) 225L French oak barriques.
The 2009 is 8%, over 11.5 acidity and roughly 460 g of residual sugar. It is one of the hedonistic and beautiful sweet wines I have ever tasted.
The colour is stunning being deep auburn. The nose is spellbinding with apricot, dripping with barley sugar, quince and a touch of lanolin. Wonderful balance on the unctuous palate but suffused with a degree of tension that so few sweet wines can pull off. Succulent apricot, caramel-coated apples, honey and tangerine on the mellifluous finish. Pure and vibrant. This is a nectar, an essensia. A lot of love went into the wine.