Mullineux Schist Syrah ‘Roundstone’ 2022

Kleur:  donkerrood
Geur: bergamot, viooltjes, nootmuskaat, rijp rood en zwart fruit, fynbos, hint van peper, iets vanille
Smaak: balans, verfijnd fruit, tijm, olijven tapenade, vol en verfijnd, rijp fruit (zwarte kersen en bessen), rijpe tannines, complex, nog erg jong
Houdbaar: vrijwel op dronk, houdbaar tot 2040
Lekker bij: gebraden rundvlees (ribeye, entrecote, Côte de Boeuf), lamsbout met rozemarijn en knoflook, linzenstoof met Provençaalse kruiden, belegen en oude Hollandse kaas

Tasting notes:
The adapted natural resilience of the dry land SCHIST Syrah on Roundstone, has resulted in this wine showing pure freshness and superb concentration. The aromas show beautiful hints of Bergamot orange, fragrant dark African violets and nutmeg and the palate is lead by well-structured and harmonious Schist-derived firm tannins . This vintage has phenomenal ageing potential and would be best served at 16 to 18 °C. Decanting is recommended when the wine is opened in its youth.. – Andrea Mullineux

WineMag 98/100
Red and black berries, rose, fynbos, cured meat, a hint of vanilla, and pepper on the nose. The palate has striking clarity and balance – excellent fruit definition and fresh acidity while the tannins are super-fine but definitely present, the finish long and very dry. All of a piece, this glides across the mouth. Alc: 14%.

Tim Atkin 97/100
Generally my favourite of the three soil-specific Syrahs, this comes from a 2.3-hectare site that was planted in 1998. Showing the perfume and texture of a great Côte Rôtie, it has fynbos, thyme and tapenade aromas, lots of energy and focus, stylish 50% new oak, granular tannins and wafts of violet and rose petal. Chris and Andrea Mullineux at their wonderful best. 2025-40

Greg Sherwood MW 98/100
The production quantity of the Schist 2022 was closer to the long-term average with 482 cases produced. The aromatics are wonderfully seductive and sophisticated, showing complex red and black berry fruit notes, violets, rose petals, fynbos, white pepper, before subtle hints of salted caramel, black berry compote and vanilla pod spice. Often a wine that is very showy in its youth, this 2022 has a certain purity, elegance, and classicism to it, but as Chris points out, also “a certain appealing Rhoney wildness that you don’t always find on the Schist”. An incredibly balanced and complete wine, there are complex notes of fynbos, garrigue, dried herbs, black berries, cured meats, and black peppercorns tempered with a seductively generous vanilla pod spice. This wine is a pyramid of elegance, power, and precision, with its massive textural stone construction blocks just slotting into one another that little bit more tightly and more precisely than with the Granite or Iron cuvees, revealing an architecturally detailed wine with a very impressive fruit-acid balance, flavour purity, and a notable palate intensity. A very serious and accomplished benchmark effort for the vintage.

Vinous 95/100
’this is outstanding’

Winemaking:
Safeguarded from the high-summer Swartland sun in February, the SCHIST Syrah was picked during the cool morning air and the 100% whole bunches were immediately foot-crushed into 500L barrels. Only natural microbes took the wine through its fermentations and only hand plunging were performed for completely gentle extraction – just enough to keep the cap wet. After four weeks it was racked and pressed back to the same open top barrels. This completed the tannin development and allowed its dark perfume to flourish.

Maturation:
The SCHIST Syrah spent 12 months in 50% new and 50% 4th fill 500L French oak barrels and then another 10 months in 2000L Foudre before being bottled unfiltered.