Good SA Syrah

S

Saina Nieminen

Saina Nieminen
Lammershoek Syrah "LAM" 2010
"Unfined & unfiltered. Dry Mediterranean climate, unirrigated old bush vines, granite soil. No yeasts, acid, enzymes or additives added. Just grapes." I was attracted to this text and decided to try a bottle despite almost only bad experiences with SA wines. But this really was nice. A bit reductive, benefits much from air, dark and sweet fruit as expected - Swartland is IIRC one of the warmer areas of SA. But crucially, the fruit isn't confected but maintains freshness. Good grip, delightfully high acidity, it has some serious bite to it. Elegant for a hot region and moreish. And only 14 Euros.
 
The few SA syrahs (with the emphasis on few) I've had make me feel like could be prime land for the variety, in a Rhonish-modern way. Much better than many of the California editions.
 
Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards makes a fab, flint-infused Syrah Mourvedre, organically grown. It's a pretty big wine, but its grace and balance are really nice -- nigh effortless, actually. And I'm also not normally fond of SA wines.
 
I would have a Mullineux waiting for me when I next visit Sweden. Does anyone have experience with Mullineux? It is supposedly an elegant, Rhôneish style.
 
I haven't tasted any of the Mullineux wines since last Saturday evening when I stumbled across (not literally, but almost) a magnum of the white and a magnum of the red at the Hospice du Rhône closing barbecue.

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The Mullineux white wine is a blend of Chenin Blanc, Clairette Blanche, and Viognier that's aged in neutral French barriques and a foudre. It's showing well right now, with there being an obvious tilt toward the Chenin side of the flavor spectrum (not surprising given that Chenin Blanc makes up 80% of the cuvée).

The Syrah is a wine better suited for the ages, as long as you don't plan to live like, forever. 5- 15 years seemed to me to be its optimal drinking window, but it did indeed strike me as being pretty Rhônish rather than say, Pinotageous. It was one of the favorite wines in the Platter book and based on that is well-worth seeking out, seeing as how Platter's palate is spot-on more often than anyone else's (other than maybe Josh Raynolds', but does he even bother with SA wines?). But I liked the Mullineux wines, I liked meeting Chris and Andrea Mullineux earlier in the day (charming people, BTW), and their wines definitely represent the best of what modern SA winemaking has to offer (and by modern, I mean they've adopted the best of traditional Rhône Valley winemaking techniques to create wines that are very representative of what Swartland is capable of producing, not that they're using any spoof technology whatsoever).

-Eden (if I had a bottle of Mullineux Syrah waiting for me in Sweden I'd probably also try to round up a bottle of their white, just to see how it would evolve in the future)
 
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