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Mullineux White Blend 2012

ID No: 273919
Organic:Yes
Vintage:2012
Bottle Size:750 ml
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Keermont White Blend Terrasse 2022

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A polished light yellow gold color, this wine has a bouquet of citrus blossom with hazelnut, lemon grass and butterscotch undertones. The wine has a soft sweet entry with a racy linear acidity. Ripe citrus and stone fruit flavors evolve into a lovely lingering dry earthy finish. This is a textured white wine with layers of flavor.


Review:

"Terrasse is a seamless, skilfully blended cuvée of Chenin Blanc with 54% Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne. Barrel-fermented and aged in older oak, it's floral, spicy and intense, marrying citrus, pear and clementine flavours and a touch of tannic grip. 2023-28"

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Made from 15 year old vines, planted on sandy soils. 
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Review:

"The red blend 2021 Wines Pool Blend was produced with an unusual blend, especially for a wine from Colchagua, of 75% Cinsault, 15% País and 5% each Marsanne and Roussanne. It has kept a moderate 13.5% alcohol and retained good freshness (pH 3.44) after maturing exclusively in Flextank and being bottled unoaked. This is fruit-driven and straightforward, with a medium-bodied palate and fine tannins. 2,400 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2022. - Luis Gutiérrez"

- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (April 2023), 90 pts




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Laurent Perrier Brut Millesime 2012

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The Vintage is the choice of an exceptional year from which only a selection of the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Grands Crus will enter into a future iteration of Grand Siècle. It is a rare and outstanding wine that expresses the character of the year in the Laurent-Perrier style. The wine is white gold in color with a fine sparkle. A flowery nose of great complexity, with notes of citrus and white peaches. A wine that is very present with a lively attack and great finesse with good minerality and notes of grapefruit on the finish. The Vintage 2012 pairs well with seafood and noble fish as well as with poultry or veal. This wine sublimates hard pressed cheeses such as a young Comté or a Beaufort.


Review:

The 2012 Champagne Brut is equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and has 8 grams per liter dosage. Since the 1950s, only 30 vintages have been produced by the house. The aromatics are reminiscent of a Burgundian feel, with pleasant flinty reduction, smoke, and vibrant green fruits of pear and citrus blossoms. Offering an energetic mousse with green apple, yellow plum, lemon curd, and wet stone, this wine is well-balanced and should continue to improve over the coming 15-20 years. Best after 2022.

-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points



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Morlet Family Vineyards Billet Doux Late Harvest Semillon 2012 (half-bottle)

Morlet Family Vineyards Billet Doux Late Harvest Semillon 2012 (half-bottle) is made from Sémillon (65%) Sauvignon Blanc (31%) Muscat à Petits Grains (4%)

rowing in the gravelly soil of an ancient riverbed in the beautiful Alexander Valley, the old vines benefit from hot afternoons and cool, foggy mornings, favorable for the development of Botrytis (Noble Rot). Extremely small yields in the Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat vineyards lead to the immensely concentrated fruit. Just as one receives a note from one’s sweetheart, we present this wine as a precious ‘Love Note’ or ‘Billet Doux.’

Deep crystal clear gold. Intense and complex bouquet of dry apricot, pêche de vigne and Reine Claude yellow plum intermixed with notes of quince, honey, Muscat and a hint of sweet vanilla. Full bodied, the palate is reminiscent of the nose, with a creamy sweet texture and a great intensity. The large amount of sugar and glycerin creates a highlighted viscosity. Along with the wine’s great concentration, richness and opulence, the classical aromatic complexity reveals a flamboyant yet harmonious ensemble, leading to a very long, complex and smooth finish.


Proprietary name ‘Billet Doux’

Name meaning Love Note 

Type of wine Late harvest white wine

Appellation Alexander Valley

Vineyard singularity 25-60 year old vines Loamy and gravelly soils from an ancient river bed One cluster per shoot ‘de rigueur’

Typical harvest date November Picking Manual, small lugs, refrigerated truck

Sorting Cluster by cluster

Fermentation In barrel through native yeast

Upbringing 16 months French Oak from selected artisan Coopers

Bottling Unfined, filtered to prevent Malolactic

Cellaring time Decades

Serving Chilled and decanted

Review:

Produced from 65% Sémillon, 31% Sauvignon Blanc and 4% Muscat, the 2012 Billet Doux has a medium golden color and profoundly scented nose of beeswax, honeyed nuts, orange marmalade, Manuka honey and preserved lemons. Full-bodied, full-on sweet, rich, concentrated and oh-so-unctuous, it delivers powerful flavor layers and epic length. 175 cases were made.

-Wine Advocate 97 Points

 Wine Advocate: 97
Product Description

Mullineux White Blend 2012 is made from 65% Chenin Blanc, 26% Clairette Blanche, 9% Viognier.

Reviews:

"Based on 80-year-old Chenin Blanc (with Clairette and Viognier for support), this barrel fermented blend almost tastes slightly sweet, such is its high glycerol level. Silky, refined, honey, apple and apricot flavours, with a hint of vanilla spice, tangy acidity and effortless complexity. Drink: 2014-20"- Tim Atkin Master Wine (August 2014), 95 pts

The 2012 White Blend is comprised of 76% Chenin Blanc, 16% Clairette Blanche and 8% Viognier, the first two whole bunch pressed and aged for 11 months in used oak and one 2,000-liter foudre. It has a slightly muted bouquet at first, with dried pineapple, apricot and a touch of wax resin that becomes more pronounced with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with a lovely, waxy opening. Chris and Andrea have fashioned a Chenin that is a more textural experience than one offering conspicuous flavors. It has great precision toward the finish with touches of hazelnut and grilled almond. A case of “less is more.” Excellent – and quite cerebral. Drink now-2020.Wine Advocate #209 Oct 2013 91 Points
 

Neal Martin of Parker's Wine Advocate on Mullineux:

Having followed Chris and Andre Mullineux’s ascendency from their days working at Tulbagh Mountain Vineyard (see Fable), through their maiden vintage in 2008 to the present, there is something almost inevitable about their fairy tale story. It was just meant to be. Spearheading the Swartland revolution alongside Eben Sadie, Adi Badenhorst et al., their wines have raised the benchmark of what wine-lovers should expect from both Mullineux and Swartland itself. And that is not just good fortune, but rather hours and hours of hard work, with Chris out in the vineyards and Andrea in the winery. The fact that they still have to rent a winery in the town of Riebeek Kasteel makes it even more remarkable – this is no case of chucking wads of cash to ensure quality (which does not necessarily work anyway.) In essence, the challenges that they have faced seem to drive them forward, inevitably toward single vineyard bottlings that debuted with the 2010 Schist and Granite Syrahs, and hopefully toward their own winemaking facilities in the near future. Their Kloof Street white and red offer a wallet-friendly introduction to their wines, although I would not hesitate in spending a few more dollars on their White and Red Blend or if you can get your hands on one of the 99 cases produced, their Schist and Granite Syrahs. On this point, I asked Chris for some background on these wines “The winemaking is pretty similar, and for us the main difference is the soils, and specifically the moisture holding capacity of them. The schist soils are very rocky, shallow and steep, so any excess water tends to run off while the decomposed granite soils are much deeper, with a layer of clay about 2 meters below the surface that holds moisture. As a result the vines grown in the schist soils tend to struggle more and have more open canopies, smaller bunches and berries with thicker skins. The wines tend to be more dense and structured. Vines grown in Swartland’s decomposed granite have a slightly easier time as they have more moisture in the subsoil, so the canopies are larger with more shade and the bunches and berries are larger with thinner skins. The wines, therefore, tend to be more floral and perfumed (from the extra shade), and fresher.” I asked Chris whether there were any significant differences between the recent vintages. “There was not much to differentiate 2010 and 2011. Both were good vintages in the Swartland: relatively dry winters and cool summers without any major heat waves before we harvested. There were some heat waves after we harvested in 2011, and this compounded with the two preceding dry winters had more of an impact on vintages 2012 (very uneven ripeness) and 2013 (some vineyards with low acidities).” Mullineux epitomize elegant, terroir-driven, traditionally tailored wines that deliver nuanced scents and flavors while rarely treading over 13.5% alcohol. They do not shortchange wine-lovers on flavor, yet at the heart of their best blends there is an intellectual aspect that leaves you wanting more. If you have not discovered Mullineux yet – what are you waiting for?

 


"The Swartland is blessed with an abundance of old vine Chenin, and we use this as the backbone of our white blend. We then add several small parcels of Mediterranean varieties for complexity, balance and aromatic lift."


Source of Grapes: Grapes for our 2011 white blend come from five vineyard parcels in different parts of the Swartland: One parcel of 32 year-old Chenin blanc planted in the stony Shale and Schist based soils
of Riebeek Kasteel Mountain; two parcels of 40+ year-old dry land, bush vine Chenin, and Clairette blanche, grown in the decomposed Granite of the Paardeberg mountain; and a parcel of 11 year-old Viognier planted on the rolling, iron-rich soils west of Malmesbury. We lease each parcel on a long term basis, and have close and direct involvement in their viticultural management.


Winemaking: Hand-picked grapes are cooled in our cold room, where after the Voignier is destemmed directly to tank, and macerated on the skins for 4 to 5 days before pressing. The Chenin, and Clairette, are pressed whole-bunch, and the juice is allowed to settle overnight. 20ppm SO2 is added, and as with all our wines, no other additions are made. The juice is then racked to barrel for fermentation. Fermentation is with indigenous yeasts, and lasts up to 6 weeks. The barrels are left without sulphur on its lees until spring. In this time the wine finished malolactic fermentation. The barrels are racked and blended just before the following vintage and bottled unfiltered.


Maturation: 11 months in older (3rd and 4th fill) French oak barrels, and one 2000L Foudre.


Tasting Note: Lemon-straw in color, this wine has a nose of crushed rocks, green citrus, cloves and a floral perfume. The palate is full, rich and has a mineral core, with a fresh, clove-like finish. Best served at 10 to 12 C, this wine will show optimally when decanted in the first 3 years after bottling.

Winery: Mullineux Family Wines

The Mullineux Family Winery Estate
This is a small, highly focused family winery producing a select family of hand-crafted wines from the granite and shale based terroirs of the Swartland Region of South Africa.

Chris was born in Cape Town, raised in Johannesburg, and introduced to the world of wine while studying accountancy at the University of Stellenbosch. After braving his way through accounting, he enrolled into winemaking for a second degree, and on graduating took a position starting up a boutique organic winery in Tulbagh, where he was in charge of the vineyards and cellar for 5 very enjoyable years. In addition to stints at de Trafford and Rustenberg wineries in South Africa, Chris has also worked harvests at top wineries in Cote Rotie, Bandol, the Languedoc, Roussillon, and California. Over the years Chris has had good exposure to the people, vineyards and wines of the Swartland. This has lead to a growing love for, and firm belief in the region, and he looks forward to many creative and hard working vintages in this region with his family.
Andrea developed her passion for wine at the family dinner table, growing up in San Francisco. After studying Viticulture and Oenology at UC Davis and completing a handful of harvests in the Napa Valley, Andrea decided to broaden her winemaking knowledge overseas. After a harvest in Stellenbosch, she went on to work in Chateauneuf and, on the same trip, met Chris at a wine festival in Champagne! Andrea's love for South African wine (and Chris) brought her back to South Africa where they learnt that their compatibility extended into the vineyards and cellar. When Andrea is not hard at work in the cellar, her creative energies flow into the kitchen where she loves cooking up a storm, glass of wine in hand.

The Mullineux Family Winery Vineyards
Very low summer rainfall coupled with afternoon and evening breezes off the Atlantic Ocean result in low disease pressure. Vineyards are often planted in amongst the natural rhenoster veldt and fynbos, which provide refuge for predators of vineyard pests, and help reduce the spread of disease. Weeds struggle to establish themselves and spread, making it easier to control them without the need of herbicides.
Chris and Andrea have put together a group vineyards in the most interesting parts of the Swartland, which are mostly found around the shale and schist based Riebeek Kasteel Mountain, and the granite based Paardeberg mountain.
Lammershoek - The deep white, granitic soils on Lammershoek produce wines that are exceptionally pure, with a granitic perfume that shines through in red and white varieties.
Kasteelsig - The soils, found on the rolling hills north of Malmesbury, are a deep combination of red gravel and iron, and produce dark, concentrated wines that are the flesh of our blends.
Kloovenburg - The highly varied row directions and aspects bring much complexity to wines, and the high shale content of the soils gives serious structure, and brings an earthy spicy character to syrah planted in them.
Mountain View - The soils are shale based, which drain easily, reducing vigor and providing grapes of perfume, freshness and structure.

The vineyards are planted with grape varieties (which are mostly Mediterranean in origin) that are ideally suited to the environment, and are farmed sustainably and in harmony with their surroundings: Syrah, Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Viognier.

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