This is a solera-based, South African chenin blanc dessert wine, comprised of vintages 2008-2019
Neal Martin had given this wine a perfect 100 pts and WS awarded it 97 pts
Based on those scores, I was intrigued to try it
Light golden in color
Sunny bright tropical aromas soar out of my glass
In the mouth, while very round, rich, honey-infused, apricot, and unctuous with orange marmalade galore, limes, sugar cane sweetness, taut oiliness…Really, if there’s a heaven for citrus, this is pretty damn close to that destination. The incredible lemony acidity cuts through, energetic and spry, bordering on ‘tart’, lifting the wine up, refreshing the palate, convincing me that it’s more medium-bodied than full, yet retaining a long, linear, crystalline finish…Snappy clean, yet powerful, complex, and golden elixir-like; a paradox of thick, palate engulfing…to fine, arrow-aiming precision. Truly, bottled sunshine, juicy…like a fabulous vacation to a world class island resort
Unlike other dessert wines, such as a Sauternes, little or no oak is detected, to lay dusty qualities over its freshness, even though the various vintage components have been in cask, some as long as 10 years
Night 1: 97 pts
Night 2: 98 pts, more pleasingly dense; more orchestrated
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Yup
I also bought this on a bit of whim last month and haven’t had an occasion to open it, so thank you for the note!
Mullineux makes some fine wines. SA producers don’t get enough attention in the US.
Thanks for the note. I haven’t had the Olerasay, but their regular straw wine is incredible.
Agree… it’s been many years since I had it, but their straw wine is pretty damn good IMO.
1000% agree. Part of it is that we don’t get too much of their wares, but I also think people still remember the rubbery wines of the past. I’ve been consistently very happy with the RSA wines I come across
I think the US anti-apartheid trade embargo from 1986 to 1991 was probably another factor. That was a time of growing wine awareness, and an expansion of imports from new regions (e.g., the Rhone and overlooked areas of Italy). Even before the embargo, I suspect it was hard to sell SA wines here because of apartheid.
The Commonwealth countries never had a trade embargo, I don’t believe, so SA wines were on the shelves all along. Certainly, SA wines have a higher profile in the market in the UK today than they do in the US.
I just pulled the trigger on K&L’s last (2) bottles. As I’m drinking a 2009 Ch. Rieussec, while unctuously powerful with balancing acidity, I was STILL hankering for the almost virginal, crystalline quality of the Olerasay No. 2. It’s not as if I didn’t give you all the chance to sweep these up…