Leeu Passant Chardonnay Stellenbosch WO 2020
  • White Wine
  • Chardonnay
  • Sustainable
  • Dry
  • Residual Sugar: 2.1 g/l
  • Full Bodied
  • 750ml
  • 14% alc./vol

Leeu Passant Chardonnay Stellenbosch WO 2020

Stellenbosch, South Africa
$101.00per bottle ($606.00per case)
6 bottles per case
/
Only 1 items in stock!

Vibrant & Textured

This product will be available to order as part of a special LCBO feature on September 13th. Please feel free to contact us at info@npwines.com if you need any assistance locating stock.

Leeu Passant is the Franschhoek Winery of Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines. The Leeu Passant wines are multi-regional bottlings inspired by the classic age-worthy wines of the Cape from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. These were authentic wines unique to the culture, terroir, history and tastes of the Cape, and they strive to reflect these unique factors in their wines.

The grapes for the Stellenbosch Chardonnay are hand-harvested from a parcel of
Chardonnay planted in the deep loam-rich soils of Helderberg Mountain.
Fermentation is with indigenous yeasts and the wine is aged for 18 months in
barriques, 30% new.

Spontaneous fermentation in oak barrels followed by natural malolactic fermentation. After spending 12 months on the lees, the wine was racked, blended, minimal sulphur added and aged a further 6 months in barrel before bottling.

This textured Chardonnay reflects its maritime climate with the vibrant palate delivering notes of Key lime sorbet followed by layers of stone-fruit and lemon curd. The touch of salinity and lush mouthfeel, is well balanced by a zesty acidity. Best served at 10-12 °C, it will show optimally when decanted within the first 3 years after bottling. Will benefit from cellaring up to 10 years.

About the Winery

Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines

​Mullineux Family Wines, established in 2007 in the Swartland region of South Africa, is owned and managed by Chris and Andrea Mullineux. Since its inception the winery has established itself as one of South Africa’s most celebrated wine brands, both locally and internationally. Originally from Northern California, Winemaker Andrea Mullineux studied Viticulture and Oenology at UC-Davis before working in Stellenbosch and meeting Chris at a wine festival in Champagne. Chris is the Viticulturist in charge of the vineyards on their farm on Kasteelberg Mountain as well as fruit sourcing for their value Kloof Street wines.

To add to their acclaim, Andrea Mullineux was named Wine Enthusiast’s Winemaker of the Year in 2016 and in 2016 Chris & Andrea were Tim Atkin’s South African Winemakers of the Year. . By focusing on producing handcrafted wines from the granite and shale based soils of the Swartland and it is quickly becoming South Africa's wine frontier. Located an hour's drive away from Stellenbosch, the Swartland is rolling hills of wheat and jagged outcrops of old vines.

Press Reviews

Robert Parker

95 Points

The 2020 Leeu Passant Stellenbosch Chardonnay is more generous and shows more ripeness than the previous vintage, with a touch more approachability and youth, as it encapsulates a broader-shouldered expression. Medium to full-bodied, the wine explodes on the palate with flavors of lemon pastry cream, popcorn kernel and sweet citrus and a lingering nutty and creamy sensation across the mid-palate. The wine glides to a gracefully long finish that persists with flavors of peach yogurt. Bravo!

Wine Align - Michael Godel

96 Points

Chris and Andrea Mullineux started the project in 2013 with the help of viticulturist Rosa Kruger. "New" vineyards were unearthed and rehabilitated through four solid years of re-pruning, re-training and re-working of the soils. Then the wines could begin being made. A deconstruction and reconstruction, now seven years in and entering the opening gambit of true maturity stage for what is one of South Africa's most unique heritage collections. Leeu means lions, a reference to a meandering walkabout, personified in these wines. They are made in the Franschhoek winery, certified organic, coming of age in their foray into regenerative agriculture, which says Andrea Mullineux, "in the southern hemisphere also means cultural and worker sustainability practices." The 2020 is as fine a reductive but mainly lightning acidity charged chardonnay as a vineyard can determine. Located in the upper mid-slopes of the Helderberg facing the Strand with a clear view of False Bay. That said or perhaps out of necessity this is made in an oxidative way, which makes sure to keep the flinty and salty faith alive. The '20 is possessive of fibres, threads, strings and wires braided to make a layered whole. Finesse and sophistication co-exist in a vacuum where waves crash upon one another in great open space, with no shore for to finish. If you would like to experience chardonnay in a way you’ve not likely done before than swim all the way out, well offshore, all in, all the way to this place. Turn around and off into the deep distance, gaze upon the strand. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted October 2022.

James Suckling

95 Points

Aromas of sliced lemon, crushed thyme, green apple and flint. Medium-bodied, but don’t let that fool you, because this is so expressive and vibrant on the palate. Complex, too. It rides the line between fresh and nutty wonderfully. Succulent, bright and persistent. A pleasure. Sustainable. Drink or hold.

Vinous

95 Points

The 2020 Chardonnay Stellenbosch comes from a single vineyard in Helderberg just above the Cabernet. This has a wonderful, slightly flinty bouquet with outstanding precision.  The palate is very well balanced with a perfect line of acidity, extremely pure, hints of white peach and orange pith, augmented by grapefruit and crushed stone of the finish that's as nervous as a child with stage fright doing school panto for the first time. Brilliant. 

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