2022 Straw Wine

I usually visit Chris and Andrea Mullineux in their Swartland farm, Roundstone, but this time, I dropped in at their Franschhoek estate, where even driving up the driveway, one could see that no expense has been spared. “We want to go to a back-to-basics approach,” Andre Mullineux told me. “It doesn't only have to be old vines. We started the Franschhoek winery in 2013. [Investor] Analjit Singh controls the hospitality side, and a third party is responsible for the restaurant where we have the former chef at La Colombe [one of the Cape’s most feted restaurants]. Like at Mullineux, we had a few years before releasing the first wines. We don't want to chop and change cuvées, so we have long-term leases where we farm to the highest degree.” She also presented me to the newly-introduced “Roundstone” range under the Mullineux label. “It is an estate wine that comes from plantings from 2014 farmed organically, the parcels in the second year of the certification process (ECOCERT). We are going the regenerative organic route, which requires an extra pillar of sustainability…social sustainability. Everything is planted on contours, and the entire farm is treated holistically with fynbos corridors and to prevent soil erosion. [See main introduction for further information].” These rank amongst the Cape’s top tier of wines. Readers should seek out the 2021 Leeu Passant Red Blend, one of the best that I have tasted thus far, and for anyone lucky enough to have successfully bid for the VWG “Hill” Franschhoek Cabernet Franc, well, do invite me when you crack that gem open. Mullineux & Leeu is typically very strong, particularly amongst the Syrah cuvées in 2021, while their two sweet wines, the Straw Wine and Essence, are quite brilliant, if very limited in quantities.