Well, spring is definitely here in the Swartland. It’s a couple of weeks early, so we’ve had to rush to complete pruning, but that is all done now, and so our 4th growing season has started!

In the cellar we’re looking  at our 3rd vintage, and will be blending our White, Syrah and Straw Wine in the coming weeks. We’ll then put each of these back in barrel for a few more months before bottling in January.

Mr Smit doing what he does best!

Speaking of barrels, the warm weather seems to have caused one of our barrels to spring a leak, so we had to call the local cooper, Mr Smit, in to repair it. It’s amazing to watch such an experienced expert repair a leaking barrel while it is still full and in place!

Barrels, Spring, Straw Wine, Syrah, White Blend

Following the great press we recently received in Decanter magazine, some more good news today from the UK on our new releases, this time from Jancis Robinson on her Purple Pages. She recently included our 2008 White as one of her few South African wines in her list of Summer Favorites, and the tasting notes on our new releases are unfortunately subscriber only, so we’re posting the notes here:

Jancis Robinson's Purple Pages

MULLINEUX SYRAH 2008 SWARTLAND

This has come on beautifully since I first tasted it last November.  Lots of north Rhône subtlety and refreshment factor. Great to see something buck the local trend and turn out something, in the first vintage, with real finesse. 17/20

WHITE BLEND 2009 SWARTLAND (60% Chenin Blanc, 10% Clairette Blanche, 10% Roussanne, 10% Viognier, 10% Grenache Blanc).

Stunningly refined and appealing for those of who like dry whites to taste as though they have some of the bedrock (shale in this case) soaking in the wine glass.  Beautifully judged with notes of jasmine, lemon peel as well as all that minerality.  Lovely now but there is so much tucked in there that I suspect it will develop beautifully in bottle.  A great effort for a second vintage. 17,5/20

STRAW WINE 2009 SWARTLAND

Pale coppery colour and awfully viscous but thanks to the acidity of Chenin Blanc, this from a single parcel of nearly 30 year-old vines, this has great refreshment value too. Lovely balance and delightfully approachable already.  This was probably very difficult to make. 18/20

2008, 2009, Decanter, Jancis, Jancis Robinson, Purple Pages, Straw Wine, Swartland, Syrah, White Blend

I must admit I was somewhat apprehensive when Andrea suggested trying some Bacon Chocolate with our ‘09 Straw Wine this evening. She’d picked up a couple of bars of this weird new chocolate on our trip to the USA, and couldn’t wait to pair it with some of our wine. I thought our Syrah would be a natural partner, but must confess that her instinct for dessert pairing was spot on!

'09 Straw Wine & Bacon Chocolate... whatever next?!

It actually reminded us of how well the Rocksalt Chocolate Fontant that Forti Mazzone at Ritrovo paired with our Straw Wine at a dinner last year. Some things just can’t be predicted… like the USA’s comeback against England last night.

On another note, we’re chuffed to read two positive pieces on our wines, both from the UK. The first is Tom Cannavan’s review of our wines. It was great to see Tom out at our winery earlier this year, and hopefully we meet up when we’re back in the UK later this year.

The second review comes from another person we really respect – Doug Wregg of Le Caves de Pyrene. If you are ever in London, have a slight interest in REAL wine, and have not visited Terroirs wine bar, you really should. We met up with Doug at Terroirs a few weeks ago to show him our new wines, and this is his review.

Terroirs warming up.

Afterwards we spent a few hours having dinner with good friends, and though we were somewhat daunted by the incredible wine list, pretty much everything we ordered (including Domaine Grammenon cuvee la Meme, Didier Barral Blanc and Dard et Ribo Crozes Hermitage) was lovely!

Bacon Chocolate, Crozes Hermitage, Dard et Ribo, Didier Barral, Domaine Grammenon, Straw Wine, Terroirs Wine Bar, Tom Cannavan