2022 Saskia-Jo
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Tasting notes
The Miles Mossop Wines 2022 Swartland Saskia is a blend of 67% Chenin Blanc, 15% Clairette Blanche, 9% Viognier and 9% Grenache Blanc. Swartland fruit comes from the mountain behind The Sadie Family vineyard. The Cape White blends represent a throwback style that have regained popularity. The Chenin Blanc was planted in 1978 and has old-vine status. The Clairette Blanche is planted on granite soils that give a pithiness and mineral character to the wine. You also get white flower, almond paste and crème fraîche. The wine ferments in oak, mostly, except for the Clairette Blanche, which only sees concrete. The wine's texture is fleshy and rich, but vintner Miles Mossop has endeavored to slim it down. In the past, he did some skin maceration and used more new wood (now, new oak is only 10%). He decided to harvest earlier, especially the Clairette Blanche. However, the Viognier is picked very ripe, close to 15% potential alcohol, in order to maintain the waxy character and those pretty honey aromas.
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Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
100% Paardeberg fruit. 63% Chenin Blanc, 14% Grenache Blanc, 11% Clairette Blanc, 6% Viognier, 6% Verdelho. 80% gets fermented and aged in 400-litre barrels (20% new) and the rest goes into concrete egg (he's been using concrete egg since the 2018 vintage). Wow, this has changed since I last tasted it (a number of years ago)! And it's changed in the best way possible. No longer a big, oaky, buttery wine. Dialled down but intensely complex. A cello-play of peach and orange and clementine, higher violin-play of yuzu and bergamot, where all the tension seems to come from. There is beeswaxy and crème fraîche richness and density, and then tiny white and gold flowers and fennel blossom playing grace notes over the top. A terse, minty finish that then fans out, orchestral. So much more elegant than it used to be! It's beautiful. (TC)