Mullineux Single Terroir Granite Chenin Blanc 2024
Mullineux Single Terroir Granite Chenin Blanc
Region: Swartland, Costal Region, South Africa
Vintage: 2024
Bottle size: 75cl
Grape: Chenin Blanc
ABV: 14%
Notes: Vegetarian, Vegan
Aromas of yellow citrus blossom and summer fynbos are layered with subtle hints of green tea. The palate is defined by a pithy, mineral core and the vibrant, mouth-watering acidity that characterises the Single Terroir Chenin Blancs. True to its granitic origins, the wine promises a slow, linear evolution in bottle and will offer its greatest drinking pleasure with time or after a short decant.
Fruit for the Granite Chenin Blanc is sourced from a 47-year-old dry-farmed bush vine vineyard named Eikelaan (“lane of Oak trees”). It is Mullineux’s highest altitude Granite-based site on the Paardeberg mountain. These decomposed granite soils have a layer of clay below the surface and a deep root system, protecting the vines from the region’s dry conditions. The resulting vines have denser canopies, which offer more shade and produce wines with great acidity and a flinty, stony aromatic profile.
Grapes were first chilled in Mullineux's cold room then pressed as whole bunches, before the juice was allowed to settle overnight. Minimal SO2 was added and, as with all their wines, no further additions were made. The juice was then racked to barrel for fermentation which took place with indigenous yeasts and lasted for about four weeks. The wine was left in barrels, on its lees, until spring. In total, the wine was spent 10 months in fourth fill French oak barrels. The barrels were racked and blended just before the following vintage and bottled unfiltered.
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’ four times by the Platter Guide in 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2020, 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. At the top of their quality ladder are the Single Terroir wines, made from small parcels of old vines, usually dry farmed on the ancient granite, quartz, schist or iron based soils of the Swartland.
https://mlfwines.com