2021 Leeu Passant Dry Red

The estate flagship is the 2021 The Leeu Passant. This is old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon, from 50-year-old plants, with 20% Cabernet Franc and 20% Cinsault. It comes from a site that produces super small berries. Old-timer farmers traditionally interplanted Cabernet Sauvignon with complementary Cinsault to "lubricate the system." This wine represents an homage to the amazing blends that were an important part of South Africa's winemaking past. It goes into 500-liter barrel, with 50% new oak, for the first year, and in the second year, it matures in upright 2,500-liter casks and a couple of barrels. The Cinsault is crushed whole cluster. The fruit is worked with an aim to polymerize the tannins and let natural floral fragrances develop. Cabernet Franc, specifically, tends to go in quick succession from black tea aromas to bergamot Earl Grey. Ideally, this wine is kept an extra year in bottle and is always released one year later than the others. The 2021 vintage was dry and cool, but it was a difficult time politically for South Africa given the restraints linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a very beautiful wine. Andrea Mullineux says it is "the ultimate wine we want to make," and the results are gorgeous.