Miles Mossop Saskia White Blend 2017

Miles Mossop Wines was established in 2004 as a family business with Miles Mossop as winemaker and viticulturist. Individual vineyards are sourced from all over the Western Cape of South Africa with a potential to produce specific wines for particular wine styles and blends Production is limited to 80 tons in total which results in 1800 cases of white, 2200 cases of red and a limited amount of dessert wine being produced. All the wines are made with minimal intervention and with limited use of new wood to retain the intrinsic varietal characters and terroir.

Miles’ wine foundation was laid early on in his life. He is the son of Kathy and the late Tony Mossop, a Cape Wine Master and distinguished South African wine authority. After graduating with a BSc in Geology, thereby setting his foundation for understanding terroir, Miles went on to complete a further degree in Viticulture and Oenology at Stellenbosch University, graduating “top of class” in 1998. He worked harvests with the legendary Gyles Webb at Thelema and Eben Sadie at Spice Route before stirring the lees as far afield as Knappstein in the Clare Valley, Far Niente in the Napa Valley and Planeta in Sicily. This first-rate experience, obtained in such a short space of time, brought him to the attention of GT Ferreira and he was appointed winemaker to the fledgling winery, Tokara, in 2000. In 2001 he married Samantha Fuchs.

Miles Mossop is the flagship range of wines dedicated to the Mossop family Each wine in this range bears the name of a family member. The Max Mossop Saskia (named for Max’s wife) is a dry white wine blend of 71% Chenin blanc, 14% Viognier, 8% Verdehlo and 7% Clairette blanche. The grapes for the Chenin blanc were sourced from two old bush vine vineyards planted in granite soils in the Swartland on the north eastern side of the Paardeberg. The two Chenin blanc vineyards were picked at different times, one slightly earlier in the season to preserve the mineral freshness and texture inherent in the grapes. The other vineyard was picked slightly riper as it expressed the beautiful bright yellow fruit typical of Chenin blanc from the Swartland. The Clairette blanche was picked at a very low sugar (19.5 brix) to preserve the acidity that is inherently low in this variety and add texture to the final blend. The Viognier was sourced from a vineyard on the southern slopes of the Paardeberg in Paarl planted on decomposed and colluvium granite soils. The Verdehlo was from a similar site to the Viognier vineyard. This is responsible for the intense grilled pineapple characters and vibrant acidity in the wine.

The grapes were picked into small crates and put into a cold store overnight. The following morning they were gently whole bunch pressed and the juice settled overnight after which it was then run to 400 litre French oak barrels for fermentation. The fermentation was allowed to start naturally and once completed the wine was topped and matured sur lie for 10 months with regular lees stirring, in French Oak, 14% of which was new. The wine was bottled in December 2017.