Semillon Mirum 2023

This Sémillon comes from the Franschhoek Valley, in the Western Cape, South Africa, a mountain-framed region where the grape has been grown since the arrival of the French Huguenots at the end of the 17th century. The grapes for this vintage come from a vineyard planted in 1989, whose age brings concentration and depth. Mirum is the personal project of Léze Herholdt, a winemaker trained in Stellenbosch and Bordeaux, who devotes her label to Sémillon after falling for this grape variety during a stint at the Steenberg estate.

The grapes are harvested at full ripeness from this old vineyard, then vinified so as to preserve the character of these old vines. The wine is then aged for twelve months in old oak barrels, which bring texture and volume without marking the fruit with oaky notes. This patient ageing in a neutral vessel allows the Sémillon to develop its characteristic richness while retaining its natural freshness and tension.

This wine reveals notes of lemon, grapefruit, white peach, quince, elderflower, beeswax, hay, fresh almond and flint. The nose, between citrus, white-fleshed fruit and waxy notes, is expressive and precise. The palate is dense and textured, carried by perfectly integrated acidity, and ends on a savoury, slightly saline finish.

The first vines were planted in South Africa by Dutch settlers in the 1650s, although wine production did not really begin to take off until the arrival of French Protestants, in the 1680s, with their skills and their knowledge of viticulture. Stellenbosch is also a historic wine region, with the first vineyards being planted there in the 1690s. Today South Africa is one of the most important wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere. With over 300 years of winemaking history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old and New Worlds. The majority of wines are produced using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more in common stylistically with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has received international attention and acclaim for its wide variety of styles. South Africa's wine industry is spread across the lush and rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. Vineyards can also be found in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa's wine regions have a Mediterranean climate, strongly influenced by the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The country's signature grape variety is Pinotage, an indigenous cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that is rarely found in quantity in other wine-producing countries. Shiraz (Syrah) is also widely planted, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often combined in a Bordeaux blend). South African Chardonnay, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc have become popular internationally in recent years.