Tim James: Leeu Passant – a Cape wine game-changer

When Indian businessman Analjit “Bas” Singh made a first visit to Cape Town in 2010 (bringing a soccer-mad son to the FIFA World Cup) it’s possible, I suppose, that he thought that one day he might not wear a turban. But it’s more than unlikely that he envisaged 15 years later having acquired not only a handsome chunk of Franschhoek hospitality and winemaking property and a South African life-partner, but also permanent residence in what he now calls “my adopted country”. He and Nicolette Waterford (also a “Group Advisor”) divide most of their time these days, Nicolette tells me, between their homes in Cape Town and Franschhoek.

Bas was certainly wearing a turban when I relished the scoop, back in 2013, of announcing his initial move into South African wine through a joint venture with Andrea and Chris Mullineux, who’d been introduced to him by viticulturist Rosa Kruger, who was introduced by, well, let’s leave the shadows there (some eminence grises prefer to remain grey). There was no mention in 2013 of what was to be the Franschhoek-based portion of the partnership, Leeu Passant, whose maiden releases came only with the 2015 vintage. I suspect there was not even a thought of it while the focus was on hotels and restaurants. By that early stage, though, Singh had already acquired most of the farms that now make up Leeu Estates, but he told me then that “this is just the beginning of the journey”.

So it proved. As evidence, metal and plaster lions now dot both the superbly landscaped estate and Franschhoek town centre (Singh is Sanskrit for lion, as Leeu is the Afrikaans), where the Group owns a further number of grand restaurants and suitably pricey lodgings. An expensive journey it’s been for Bas, as well as an adventure that has clearly given him satisfaction (and developed in him a genuine taste for wine); it would be hard to think of any larger foreign investment in the Cape’s wine-hospitality nexus. And Bas no longer wears a turban, as he pointed out at an event last week on the estate marking the latest release of Leeu Passant wines. Something to do with his now being a farmer, he said.

The first Leeu Passant wines were two chardonnays, from Elandskloof and Stellenbosch respectively, and the Dry Red Wine. The latter name was a nod to the classic Rustenburg cab-cinsaut blend that was one of the inspirations for this one. It consciously emulated the great Cape blends of the mid-20^th century, re-creating them in the light of modern scientific winemaking and contemporary conditions – including bringing in cab franc to partner the cab and cinsault. On its release I thought the 2015 superb, unique in the Cape context.

There’s been a continuous shift in the Leeu Passant range since then, both a focusing and an expansion. Only the Stellenbosch single-vineyard chardonnay of the original two still features, though it’s now complemented by the Radicales Libres – the oxidatively handled, whole-bunch-fermented chardonnay that spends five (carefully monitored) years in older barrels. Both are invariably excellent. And just one of the old-vine cinsaults impressively remains, from a venerable Wellington vineyard, lovingly restored – there were for a short while two of them. There’s a Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon, for a few years a blend, but now also from a single Helderberg vineyard. Coming to join the ranks – very soon, I should think – is a wine from actually Franschhhoek: a varietal cabernet franc off the vineyard on the home estate that Rosa Kruger planted (she’s no longer a Mullineux/Leeu Passant consultant, having once played a crucial role for both elements of the partnership). It’s been offered as a Cape Winemakers Guild Auction wine in recent years – as was previously the Radicales Libres.

As for the flagship red blend, the homely “Dry Red Wine” name has disappeared from the label, and it’s now simply and grandly known as The Leeu Passant. It was, incidentally, from the start an expensive wine, at nearly R1,000, which is what the white wines have risen to now, but has more than doubled in price to R2,160 from the estate for the 2022, a true luxury commodity. Is it worth it? There will be differing answers to that. I had actually bought three of the maiden 2015s, a very rare venture for me in Cape cab-based wines, especially at that price level; it’s a purchase not repeated this year, but I am confident that the wine is extremely good, in the top echelon of its category: complex and lightly intense, with firm but fine and supple tannins, a genuine dryness and, generally, that combination of austerity and generosity that marks the best cab-based wines (read CE’s reviews of all the new releases here).

Following the recent launch, it seemed a good idea to broach the first of my three 2015s and see how they’re doing ten years on. In fact, I got to the right bottle by a happy side-road. Leeu Passant had presented the attendees at the launch with a bottle of the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon and there it was, still standing on my kitchen counter, with its essentially similar bottle and label (the latter printed in black rather than gold, however). And that’s the one I absentmindedly opened. First sip, it seemed remarkably young for the 2015 wine I was expecting…

On recognising my error, I was irritated, but soon I was utterly taken by the wine, even more than I had been during the formal tasting the day before. Dark fruit with a dried herb twist, beautifully polished palate with dry elegance, silky texture, succulent tannins (is that meaningful?), a core of sweet fruit to its classic finesse. I agreed with what Chris Mullineux said when I contacted him to say how much I’d enjoyed it: “Along with Restless River, I think it shows what slower ripening Cabernet sites can do in the Cape when they are allowed to ripen properly but not overdone in the cellar.” A good comparison. For me, apart from those two and often Kanonkop, very few Cape cabs or cab-based blends please me so much, however much I might recognise other claims to quality. I certainly want to buy some of this – before the producers realise how uncharacteristically modest and generous they are being by charging only just over R500 for it. Really lovely wine, even in youth.

I did get to the 2015 Dry Red the next day (I do wish they’d kept that name rather than, presumably, thinking it not posh enough!). In terms of youthfulness, eight years older than that Cab it was effortlessly soaring – still upwards, I suspect.  Age has perhaps started to underline the savoury element and lengthen and attenuate the tannins, but it has not diminished the freshness or flavours; the comparison with the Cab was useful in stressing the complexity of flavour here, and the sheer delicious length; again, a properly dry finish. My remaining two bottles are no need of rescuing for a good few years yet.

Analjit Singh chose his wine partners well. Few in Cape wine are as ambitious and brilliantly capable as the Mullineux pair. With the unstinting support of Bas Singh, they have built Leeu Passant into one of the unquestionably finest producers in the Cape.

• Tim James is one of South Africa’s leading wine commentators, contributing to various local and international wine publications. His book Wines of South Africa – Tradition and Revolution appeared in 2013.