Mullineux Family Wines

At A Glance

Field: Detail
Region: Swartland, South Africa
Appellation: Swartland
Home estate: Roundstone, Riebeeksrivier Valley ward
Main grapes: Syrah and Chenin Blanc
Partnership: Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines
Named wines: Kloof Street Rouge 2020, Kloof Street Chenin Blanc 2021, Mullineux Old Vines White 2024
Defining feature: Regenerative Organic Certified vineyards at Roundstone

The Producer

Roundstone is the home estate of Mullineux, the Swartland winery within Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines. The wider partnership brings Chris and Andrea Mullineux together with Analjit Singh and owns Mullineux in Swartland and Leeu Passant in Franschhoek.

Chris oversees viticulture at Kasteelberg Mountain and fruit sourcing for the Kloof Street wines. By 2023, Mullineux had received more than fifty Platter’s five star ratings and five Winery of the Year awards.

Place

Mullineux works from Roundstone in the Riebeeksrivier Valley ward of Swartland and also works with selected growers using sustainable, reasoned farming practices. Swartland is the regional setting for the winery’s Syrah and Chenin Blanc.

Leeu Passant is the partnership’s separate winery in Franschhoek. The two names belong to the same partnership but represent different wine regions and separate wineries.

Story

Chris and Andrea Mullineux chose Swartland for its ancient granite and schist based terroirs and old vineyards. They established Mullineux in 2007, with Syrah and Chenin Blanc as the principal varieties used to interpret the region.

The partnership widened in 2013 when the Mullineuxs joined with Analjit Singh to form Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines and begin Leeu Passant. Mullineux remained the Swartland winery, while the new Franschhoek project added a separate place and range to the family wines partnership.

Wines

The range includes Kloof Street wines and bottles under the Mullineux name. Kloof Street Rouge 2020 is the red wine in the Kloof Street set, while Kloof Street Chenin Blanc 2021 provides a white expression. Mullineux Old Vines White 2024 is a separate named white wine.

The Kloof Street wines were conceived as relatively affordable, food friendly and versatile bistro wines. Kloof Street Rouge 2020 carries that role in red wine form, with enough sandy tannin to accompany rich food.

In The Glass

Kloof Street Rouge 2020 is juicy and medium bodied, with dark fruit, fresh flowers and baking spices. The palate is succulent and rounded, while a fine bead of acidity supplies freshness and length. Sandy tannins give the wine enough firmness for rich food without closing its easy drinking character.

A Bottle To Understand It

Open with Kloof Street Rouge 2020. It is the red bottle from the range created in response to local requests for more affordable, food friendly and versatile wines at table. The 2020 vintage puts that bistro role into a single red wine from Mullineux’s Swartland range.

Final Word

Roundstone uses winter cover crops to limit erosion, build soil organic matter, shade the soil and suppress weeds. Mulches, composts and fynbos corridors support water retention and beneficial insects, while weed killers, insecticides and systemic fungicides are excluded. In the cellar, indigenous yeasts, little new wood and low intervention methods guide the wines.

At A Glance

The Producer

Place

Story

Wines

In The Glass

A Bottle To Understand It

Final Word

Sources

Where to go next