Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards
Tulbagh Mountain Vineyards is a South African winery established in 2002 as the brainchild of two English investment bankers, Jason Scott and George Austin, who realised a dream of owning a premium vineyard and chose Tulbagh, this remote area of Swartland as their base. They engaged Chris Mullineux of the eponymous domain to oversee the wine making.
Paul Nichols and Rebecca Tanner are the husband-and-wife team responsible for the estate, he South African, she West Australian.
The vineyards are farmed bio-dynamically and are currently certified as organic, the objective being to make pure, natural wines which reflect their terroir. Given Rebecca’s background this is hardly surprising, as she once worked for Vanya Cullen, a great devotee of organic viticulture, at the latter’s eponymous winery in the Margaret River region.
The shale soil lends itself particularly to Mediterranean varieties, and this wine is predominantly Syrah with a small percentage of Cabernet and Mourvedre. The latter adds a particular note of complexity and the plan for the future is to graft more of this grape onto the Cabernet rootstock. The high altitude and the surrounding mountains create a micro-climate where cool air is trapped around the vineyards, providing ideal conditions for long, slow ripening.
As the vineyard has only been established for 10 years or so there are not many old vines to impart complexity yet, but early vintages have shown startling quality.
Paul Nichols and Rebecca Tanner are the husband-and-wife team responsible for the estate, he South African, she West Australian.
The vineyards are farmed bio-dynamically and are currently certified as organic, the objective being to make pure, natural wines which reflect their terroir. Given Rebecca’s background this is hardly surprising, as she once worked for Vanya Cullen, a great devotee of organic viticulture, at the latter’s eponymous winery in the Margaret River region.
The shale soil lends itself particularly to Mediterranean varieties, and this wine is predominantly Syrah with a small percentage of Cabernet and Mourvedre. The latter adds a particular note of complexity and the plan for the future is to graft more of this grape onto the Cabernet rootstock. The high altitude and the surrounding mountains create a micro-climate where cool air is trapped around the vineyards, providing ideal conditions for long, slow ripening.
As the vineyard has only been established for 10 years or so there are not many old vines to impart complexity yet, but early vintages have shown startling quality.
 
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Eco Information: Organic (Certified)
UK
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