A Serious South African - Saskia 2010 Miles Mossop

eets abet tem thet e reet abet e serth efrican ween - South African for 'It's about time that I write about a south african wine'. So here goes.

With my first post on something South African, I'm heading to Miles Mossop, for something decent. Miles Mossop started making wines in 2004, with his white wine 'Saskia' and red 'Max', and in more
recent years, he has started producing a dessert wine called 'Kika' - all of which are named after his three children.

I have been lucky enough to be drinking Saskia 2010, which is a blend of 71% Chenin Blanc, 24% Viognier and 5% Clairette Blanche.

This is definitely something special and clearly a lot of time and effort has gone in to the production. The Chenin Blanc in this blend has been picked in two stages; the first, early on, in order to bring plenty of crisp acidity, minerality and freshness. The second picking happens later on, when botrytis has had a chance to take hold and the grapes begin to raisin, this brings depth of flavour, richness and complexity.

There is plenty going on when you stick your nose in the glass. Among the first things to hit you is the lovely dried fruit, from the raisined Chenin, along with a delicate bit of oak. There are so many layers in this that each time you take a sniff, you notice something else, which effectively means you are getting more for your money. Awesome.

Miles is a surfer as well as wine man - two things that
don't mix too well. Or do they...? Infact no, definitely not.
Don't drink and surf, kids.

When you take your nose out of the glass and actually drink it, you notice a delicious creamyness and a rich, full body. However there is just the right amount of mouth-watering acidity to avoid becoming cloying and too flabby. The barrel fermentation has given this a quality which just holds everything together really nicely and the subtle oak supports this.
The fruit flavours are delicious and there are plenty of them too - raisin, lime, apricot...

Whether you tend to like crisp, dry whites or full and aromatic ones, this is something that will suit everyone. Although in wine there is no right and wrong, if you don't like this, you are wrong.

For anyone that actually gives a shit, The Wine Advocate gave Saskia 91 points in September 2011.

You can get a bottle of Saskia 2010 from Edgmond Wines for £17.95. This is also available by the half bottle (taking my own advice) from Yorkshire Vintners for £9.55 but you will have to email them if you are interested as it isn't featured on the website.

Grab a bottle (or half bottle) for a taste of something seriously South African.