Mullineux Family Wines
Mullineux Family Wines
For a long time, we maintained that wines from South Africa were not for us. Exactly why is a bit unclear, but it's likely a combination of feeling that the wines were somewhat one-dimensional, that everyone else had already scoured the region, and that we had simply focused elsewhere. BUT when you stumble upon a producer like Mullineux Family Wines, you simply have to bow down and surrender, because this is truly exceptional. Mullineux, with owners Andrea and Chris Mullineux at the helm, truly personifies the new South Africa. A small, quality-focused, family-owned winery in the heart of Swartland. The wines are taut, elegant, and possess a complexity that is not altogether common in wines from the rest of the country. Andrea trained at UC Davis and Chris at the University of Stellenbosch. Both have worked in the USA and Europe, but it is above all their time in the Rhône Valley that made a profound impression on them. It was, however, at a wine festival in Champagne that they met, which eventually led them to move back to South Africa and found Mullineux Family Wines. The winery and vineyards are located in and around Riebeek Kasteel, Swartland, and on the red side the focus is on Syrah. The goal is to express grape and origin, which becomes particularly apparent in the soil-specific wines Mullineux Schist Syrah, Mullineux Granite Syrah, and Mullineux Iron Syrah, but also in the "regular" Mullineux Syrah, where the three soil types are united. The latter was, incidentally, named "Red Wine of the Year" in the prestigious South African wine guide Platter 2014, where Mullineux was also honoured with the title "Winery of the Year."
