Tasting Notes
James Suckling 95
Blueberry, wild plum, peppercorn, oyster shell, tile and five spice on the nose. Slate, too. Medium-bodied with firm, grainy tannins that turn fine. Peppery and spicy with bitter bark and tar notes. Tight. Unfiltered. One of our favorite wines from South Africa. Better after 2023.
Tim Atkin 95
Roundstone’s schist soils produce grapes with more colour and smaller berries, but the greater concentration doesn’t show in the wines. Floral, svelte and peppery, this is the Mullineux’ Côte Rôtie for me, with fine-boned tannins, rose petal and peony aromas, lots of whole bunch clove spice and texture and a meaty undertone.
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2029
Vinous 92
The 2019 Syrah Schist has a nicely detailed bouquet that opens in the glass, delivering plenty of black currant, cassis and violet scents, plus a touch of game in the background. The palate is medium-bodied with lithe tannins that belie the depth of this Syrah. Beautifully balanced, seamless and satiny in texture, this just slips down the throat. It will be difficult to resist in its youth.
Anticipated maturity: 2023-2040
Greg Sherwood 97
The vines for the 2019 Schist Syrah were planted in 1999 on the Roundstone farm and originally used for the Mullineux estate Syrah, with the top 10 rows of the same block historically going into Eben Sadie’s famed Columella red blend. While there is irrigation available, the vineyard is now fully dry farmed. I always talk about this wine as being the consumers’ ‘darling wine’ in the single terroir range with seductive, alluring aromatics of pomegranate, blood orange, red currant, Earl Grey tea and crushed slate minerality nuances. Always supremely elegant and approachable, the 2019 shows a truly magical balance of concentrated, textural red and black fruit intensity together with sleek fresh acids and incredibly tight knit, polished, fine-grained tannins. This is an unbelievably complete wine that slowly but surely seduces you sip by sip. Tasted over two days, my impressions of this wine simply grew ever larger the longer the bottle was open. The novice fine wine drinker will love the Schist 2019 (as usual) while the discerning collector will perhaps acquire a new appreciation for this icon Swartland Syrah. (2,700 bottles produced. The only wine bottled every year since 2010.)
