2021 Mullineux, Iron Syrah, Swartland, South Africa

2021 Mullineux, Iron Syrah, Swartland, South Africa

Product: 20211323607
Prices start from £97.00 per bottle (75cl). Buying options
2021 Mullineux, Iron Syrah, Swartland, South Africa

Buying options

Available for delivery or collection. Pricing includes duty and VAT.

Description

The 2021 Syrah Iron probably has the most nuanced bouquet - very cohesive with intense blackberry, blueberry and white pepper scents, the most backward of the three single vineyard sites. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiselled tannins and a keen thread of acidity, but real structure and density, layers of mineral-rich black fruit laced with black pepper and graphite towards the finish. Superb.

Drink 2025 - 2045

Neal Martin, Vinous.com (November 2023)

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Critics reviews

Neal Martin, Vinous95/100

The 2021 Syrah Iron probably has the most nuanced bouquet - very cohesive with intense blackberry, blueberry and white pepper scents, the most backward of the three single vineyard sites. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiselled tannins and a keen thread of acidity, but real structure and density, layers of mineral-rich black fruit laced with black pepper and graphite towards the finish. Superb.

Drink 2025 - 2045

Neal Martin, Vinous.com (November 2023)

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Wine Advocate94/100

Bursting with a fresh and juicy nose, the 2021 Iron Syrah is ripe with red-fruited elements of dark cherry and spiced red plum before showing a delicate, rocky essence that sways with notes of turned earth and red peppercorn. Medium to full-bodied, the palate clamps down with firm tannins that grow across the gum line and will need some time but still serve as a testament that this beautiful Syrah has plenty of life left to give. Nicely done!

Drink 2025 - 2040

Anthony Mueller, Wine Advocate (December 2023)

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James Suckling94/100

There’s more of the savoury olive and peppercorn character here, with blackcurrants and grilled herbs too. Silky and very fine tannins, medium to full body, with a caressing, long and delicious finish. 

Drink or hold

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (November 2023)

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About this WINE

Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines

Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines

Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines is one of the stand-out producers in South Africa's budding Swartland region. Winemakers Chris and Andrea Mullineux’s ambition is to bottle wines that are a true expression of the Swartland, and all steps of their winemaking process are taken with this in mind. They work closely with a select group of growers who follow sustainable, reasoned farming practices, as well as owning vineyards at their Roundstone Farm in Riebeeksrivier.

In the cellar, apart from minimal amounts of sulphur, nothing is added to or removed from the wine. They do not make use of any yeasts, acids, tannins, enzymes, or fining and filtering agents. “Leeu” (Afrikaans for “lion”) was added to the name recently to recognise the contribution of a new investor to the project.

Apart from their wonderful Syrah, Chenin Blanc-based white blend and a super-rich Straw Wine made from air-dried Chenin Blanc, fermented and matured in old barriques, Mullineux now has a range of spectacular single-terroir Syrah and Chenin Blanc wines, each of which illustrates the amazing potential of the differing Swartland soils. Volumes of the single-vineyard wines are tiny, so availability is extremely limited.

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Swartland

Swartland

After Stellenbosch, the west coast district of Swartland (25 miles due north of Cape Town, between the towns of Malmesbury and Piketberg) now ranks as the Cape's most exciting wine-producing district.

Settled initially by nomadic Khoikhoi from Namibia, the Dutch brought trade and vines to the region in the 17th century. Viticulture was developed only more recently.

This contrasts with an ancient geology which has brought a mix of shale, arenite sandstone and granite soils air-conditioned by the Atlantic Ocean nearby.

Chenin Blanc and Shiraz seem to do best, as exemplified by the wines of Eben Sadie and Mullineux.

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Syrah/Shiraz

Syrah/Shiraz

A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.

It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.

South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.

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When is a wine ready to drink?

We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.

Not ready

These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.

Ready - youthful

These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.

Ready - at best

These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.

Ready - mature

These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.