Greg Sherwood MW: Mvemve Raats launch a white blend

By , 30 October 2024

Over the decades, there have been a few new South Africa fine wine releases that developed into epoque defining creations. One such wine was undoubtedly the 2006 release of the 2004 vintage MR de Compostella Cape Bordeaux blend made by Bruwer Raats of Raats Family Wines and Mzokhona Mvemve, the erstwhile University of Stellenbosch graduate. Together, they set about creating a classical red wine that at the time was not only the most expensive premium cuvée on the market from South Africa but was also one of the most uncompromisingly quality focused expressions produced by any winery in the Cape capable of shattering the glass ceiling of consumers’ quality perceptions.

Working as a fine wine buyer for a premium merchant in London, the MR de Compostella represented everything I was looking for in a new prestige cuvée from South Africa, namely that it drew its constituent parts from only classical red Bordeaux cultivars, made with sufficient stuffing so as to be age worthy for 20 to 30+ years of cellaring, and was produced with sufficient polish, precision and finesse so as to be drinkable young on release but also capable of standing up to the very best of California or Bordeaux in blind comparative tastings.

The first MR de Compostella release was followed not long after by another game-changing wine with a big-ticket price tag, namely The Jem 2004 from the Waterford Estate. Whereas the MR de Compostella seemed a perfectly conceived and expertly executed classical blend, The Jem was a slightly more excentric and exotic blend built around Cabernet Sauvignon (which has always been the wine’s backbone) at around 40%, followed by Shiraz at 20%, with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot in the teens and Mourvèdre and Barbera in single digit percentages. With eleven varieties on the farm, The Jem normally used eight of these varieties to build up the layers of the wine.

While neither of the above wines can claim to have achieved instant global success, The Jem was for several years viewed very much by fine wine buyers as a work in progress, whereas, the MR de Compostella Bordeaux styled blend instantaneously nailed its colours to the mast and made its long term intentions and aspirations of fine wine dominance very clear. It wanted to be able to compete with the finest wines of the world on a consistent basis, and if this was not possible in any given vintage, the wine would not be produced.

Roll on 20 years and MR de Compostella is firmly established as one of the most respected premium boutique Cape Bordeaux blends produced in South Africa with notionally the consistently highest international critical ratings for any single wine from the Cape according to Bruwer Raats. Over these two decades, only two vintages have been deemed unsuitable to be bottled under the MR de Compostella label, namely the 2010 and the 2019 vintages, both of which were declassified into the Jasper red blend produced by Raats Family Wines, and which is increasingly regarded as the baby brother of the MR de Compostella.

With an unquestionable quality track record under their belt, October witnessed another first for the Mvemve Raats project – a new MR 2022 vintage launch in London that included both Bruwer and Mzokhona in person together for the very first time. With marketing responsibilities for different global markets usually split between the two of them, this was indeed a very special occasion to not only taste a mini vertical of MR de Compostella back to 2012 but to also have both of the proprietors present in person to share their own perceptions on the wines.

When the maiden MR de Compostella 2004 was released, it also coincided with the rise of the great white blend in South Africa, led amongst others by master winemaker Ian Naudé. Indeed, it was Ian who organised four or five years of the annual white blend conference in Stellenbosch, for which I was invited to attend the last event at in 2009 as one of the three guest speakers alongside winemakers Eden Sadie and Peter Fischer of Chateau Revelette.

It was undoubtedly boomtime for white blends and absolutely everybody was looking to craft their own expression including the likes of Eden Sadie, Donovan Rall and Chris Mullineux. It was also around this time, as Bruwer Raats will attest, that I strongly suggested to him that he launch a MR de Compostella white wine in the form of a white blend, that could be produced, assembled and blended along the same fastidious rules that were employed to select and blend the components for the red MR. It seemed the obvious natural outlet for Bruwer’s impressive white winemaking acumen that had already earnt him the nickname ‘Chenin King’.

Sadly, either I was not convincing enough or the timing was not right, or both, as it only took another 20 years until Bruwer and Mzokhona finally decided to craft and release a premium white blend under the MR Vesperi label, producing a white blend made from Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon as a true homage to the great whites of Bordeaux, but with a little Chenin Blanc to add a bit of South African flavour. With all three cultivar components sourced from seven different plots in the Polkadraai Hills, the wine retains a beautiful signature decomposed granite wet stone minerality and tension from start to finish.

The MR de Compostella 2022 and the maiden MR Vesperi 2023, meaning “evening star” in Latin, keeps with the wider ‘constellation of stars’ theme for both wines. After a long day of tasting with over 40 wine trade buyers, followed by a repeat event in the evening for 35 members from the London private members club 67 Pall Mall, we eventually found a moment of peace and quiet over dinner at 67 Pall Mall where we decided to put the Vesperi 2023 through its paces alongside three other, arguably, benchmark dry white Bordeaux examples. My tasting notes and score follow below.

Mvemve Raats Vesperi White Blend 2023, WO Polkadraai Hills, 13% Abv.

After a 21-year wait, the maiden vintage Mvemve Raats Vesperi white blend 2023 has finally been released, named after “the evening star” in Latin. Inspired by the great white blends of Bordeaux, the Vesperi includes a little local South African flavour in the form of 34% of Chenin Blanc to accompany the 33% Sauvignon Blanc and the 33% Semillon portions harvested from seven individual plots grown on decomposed Granite soils in the Polkadraai Hills ward. The Chenin Blanc was whole bunch pressed and fermented in a combination of concrete and used oak barrels, while the Sauvignon Blanc was picked fully ripe at around 14% potential alcohol and was fermented on its skins for around seven days before being basket pressed and transferred to oak barrels to finish fermentation and maturation. The Semillon was picked earlier, at 11% potential alcohol, to add a real citrus vivacity, freshness, and linearity to the wine, keeping more in common with Hunter Valley Semillon than the more glycerol, unctuous, lanolin-styled dry Semillons from Bordeaux. The individual components were aged for 10 months on their fine lees before each barrel was assessed blind for the final selection and assemblage. The concluding blend is an incredibly accomplished, food-friendly fine wine offering a style that structurally has many white Burgundy parallels while never departing too far away from classical, premium, white Bordeaux expressions like those produced at Chateau Cheval Blanc and by the Guinaudeau family at Chateau Lafleur.

On first opening, there are plenty of youthful, flinty, struck-match reductive hints interspersed with classic Polkadraai Hills wet stone minerality and crushed granite dustiness before notes of dry hay, dried green herbs, lemon grass, lemon curd, freshly baked pastries, and white peach start to emerge. The palate is full and assertive, yet incredibly well balanced and classical with notes of white citrus, waxy lemon and lime, buttered white toast and pithy yellow grapefruit marmalade on the long, focused, mineral finish. This is a very impressive debut and undoubtedly represents another formidable and noteworthy chapter in the history of modern premium white blends in the Cape. Drink on release and over the next 10 to 15+ years. (96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Societe Civile du Chateau Lafleur Les Champs Libres 2020, Bordeaux, 13.5% Abv.

A celebrated dry white Bordeaux ever since their first release in 2013, the Guinaudeau family certainly don’t do any new wines by half measure. This 2020 is a taut, fresh, tensile wine with a steely veneer and limestone minerality. Aromatically lifted and floral, the nose boasts white blossom, yellow grapefruit, white citrus and lemon grass with a delicate undertone of dried herbs, mint leaf, sage and spicy fennel root. The palate is vibrant and foursquare with a tart chiselled acidity, hints of lemon oil, tangerine peel, and a pleasing pithy bitter almond finish. A simply stunning white fully charged with nervy electricity. Drink now to 2035. (95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Chateau Cheval Blanc Le Petit Cheval Bordeaux Blanc 2020, 13% Abv.

Loosely based around a 70/30 Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon blend, the Le Petit Cheval 2020 Blanc shows a bright pale golden translucence in the glass, revealing expressive lifted aromatics of white flowers, naartjie peel, yellow grapefruit and gorgeous lemon and lime flavours with delicate hints of lemon tart, fresh fennel and baked apple strudel. Seductive, tight knit and fabulously precise, the palate shows a wonderful linearity of steely fresh acids, a stony limestone minerality and incredible clarity and definition. Tasted over three days, this wine continues to grow incrementally in stature, confirming its true noble credentials and class. Drink on now until 2034+. (96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Chateau Talbot Caillou Blanc 2021, Bordeaux, 13.5% Abv.

Tasted alongside two 2020 Bordeaux whites, there were high expectations for this 2021 coming from a cooler, more classical vintage in Bordeaux. A blend of 63% Sauvignon Blanc and 27% Semillon, the wine was aged in French oak with a 30% new portion. On first opening, the aromatics reveal an incredibly intense and pungent Sauvignon bouquet packed full of lemon grass and quince jelly, fresh fennel, ripe gooseberry, and apricot fruits with a veneer of honeycomb and waxy yellow citrus. Given plenty of air, this wine transforms from the ugly duckling into a proverbial swan, shedding some of its pungency and savoury notions in favour of purer white citrus, lime peel, and pithy wet stone minerality over tangerine peel, dry lemon, and tangy orange bitters. A thoroughly enchanting wine with plenty of character. Drink now to 2030. (92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

It was an intriguing exercise tasting the Vesperi alongside such accomplished white wines from iconic Bordeaux producers. Needless to say, the MR white easily stood its ground and greatly impressed all the tasters at dinner. That’s the good news. The bad news is that unfortunately only 175 cases of 6 were produced in the 2023 vintage, and with much of this already pre-sold in Europe, consumers in South Africa are going to have to be viper quick if they want to pick up a couple of bottles of this majestic maiden release white for their cellars.

The MR Vesperi storyline cannot possibly be completed without another honourable mention for Ian Naudé, who almost single handedly pioneered and promoted the great white blend category in South Africa in the early noughties. His contribution to this incredibly successful category cannot be overstated. He will of course look on with a wry grin on his face after producing his Naudé white blend from 2006 to 2010 using three distinct cultivars. Yup, you guessed it… Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

  • Greg Sherwood was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and as the son of a career diplomat, spent his first 21 years traveling the globe with his parents. With a Business Management and Marketing degree from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Sherwood began his working career as a commodity trader. In 2000, he decided to make more of a long-held interest in wine taking a position at Handford Wines in South Kensington, London, working his way up to the position of Senior Wine Buyer over 22 years. Sherwood currently consults to a number of top fine wine merchants in London while always keeping one eye firmly on the South African wine industry. He qualified as the 303rd Master of Wine in 2007.

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