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- Miles Mossop recently hosted a vertical tasting of his flagship Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon, the Sam – named for his wife Samantha and in honour of the release of his latest 2020 vintage.
- Tim Atkin MW hailed the maiden release of the Sam (2017), the Red Wine Discovery of the Year in 2020, and rated it 99 points. Since then, the wine has yearly lived up to the hype and has proved a study in Stellenbosch terroir and showcase of Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Each wine in Miles' portfolio is named for a member of his family, including his three children Saskia, Max and Kika; his late father Tony (a Cape Wine Master; and Samantha.
"A dog reflects the family life. Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family or a sad dog in a happy one?" – Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
The Mossops have always had a troupe of Rhodesian Ridgebacks at any one time. They even have a sign at their gate reminding people to keep an eye out for the dogs as they leave. But those dogs are so happy, I don't think they'll ever try to leave.
The Mossops live on a plot of land just off the Helshoogte Pass – fitting, given its proximity to Miles Mossop's old employer, Tokara, where he was the winemaker for 19 years. The property looks out onto glorious views of the Ban(g)hoek (Miles always refers to it as Banhoek, but I prefer the Banghoek spelling – wie's bang?) Valley. It's a happy place, and explains why Miles has named each one of his wines after a member of the family.
His three children are each embodied in a wine; a Cape Vintage fortified wine is named for his late father Tony; and the collection culminates in the showstopping Sam (named for his wife, Samantha) – a Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon whose maiden vintage (2017) was hailed the Red Wine Discovery of the Year and received 99 points from Tim Atkin MW in his SA Report 2020. Miles has subsequently made two introductory blends (a red and a white) and assuaged his curiosity with five chapter wines, representing either old vines or notable parcels from Stellenbosch and the Swartland.
Miles first graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in 1995 with a degree in geology and geochemistry. But he promptly changed course when he was offered a job on a base metal mine in the Northern Cape, about 800km from the sea. The thought of being that far from the water was unthinkable to the surfing winemaker.
He obtained his degree in viticulture and oenology in 1998, graduating top of his class, and joined Tokara in January 2000, having done a vintage in south Australia and then what he calls a "tasting stint in France.
Miles's father, Tony, was a Cape Wine Master, and thus it was no great stretch of the imagination for Miles to get into wine – having grown up with Cape wine culture. He officially left Tokara in 2018 to pursue Miles Mossop Wines exclusively, having made wine under the label since 2004.
While attending a vertical tasting of his flagship Sam Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon the other day at their home, I remember thinking what age means to a well-made red wine. The virtues of age are proudly displayed in the 2017 Sam to the recently released 2020 vintage. Already benefitting from 22 months in barrel and almost a year in bottle, and judging by the previous vintages, the 2020 still has several years to go before approaching anything resembling a peak. Back in the day, and certainly in the days of Miles' father, curating a cellar was very much how you acquired wine.
Rather than buying a wayward bottle in the supermarket on a random Tuesday for dinner that night, much thought went into it. I imagine going around to various producers, identifying wines and areas you like, and purchasing a case or two. Not for immediate consumption but for cellaring, with key drinking windows identified as something you build on, like a savings account, that you draw on when you want to enjoy something – the gravity of the situation determined by the wine, its age, producer, region, variety and style.
The actual value of the wine can increase exponentially with age and, when correctly timed, sometimes prove priceless.Unfortunately, my generation of wine drinkers doesn't necessarily have the space, resources or patience to allow for a decent cellar – though the old guys will tell you that if you were serious, you'd save the money and build the cellar, irrespective of any financial or physical constraints. After all, life is but a pendulum and where there's a will, there's a way. You might consider starting your collection here.
Miles is very much part of the wine fraternity, competing yearly in the Vintners Surf Classic and a member of several other wine collectives, chief among these the Cape Winemakers Guild he joined in 2012. I remember Eben Sadie once telling me – himself a keen surfer – that surfing, like winemaking, depends very much on your terroir. The ocean floor dictates the way a wave will break and the weather determines the size of the swell.
He also said that, in surfing, you can't take anything with you; you're dependent only on your intuition, skill and strength to survive. No one told me of this one fateful day on the beach at Betty's Bay when I – possessing neither intuition, skill nor strength – had to get towed out of the current by no fewer than two lifeguards. Winemaking, therefore, is the perfect job for a surfer.
In terms of terroir, preferred variety and style, I think Miles can be summed up as having a firm love of Stellenbosch and Swartland terroir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc grapes, and blends chiefly Bordeaux-style. In general, however, he is a master blender.
The Sam is a study in Stellenbosch terroir, from its roots in the Bottelary Hills that first vintage (2017) to incorporating parcels from the Polkadraai, Ban(g)hoek and Helderberg in subsequent vintages. Miles says the Sam will always be a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend, with at least 85% of the bottle content dedicated to the variety.
His Max red blend, named for his son, is more a 50/50 Bordeaux-style blend, though still fixed on Cabernet Sauvignon as half and the other made up of the traditional Bordeaux varieties. His two daughters, Saskia and Kika, are both studies in Chenin Blanc. The Saskia, a Swartland white blend, comprises predominantly Chenin Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Viognier and Grenache Blanc. The Kika, a sweet wine made from botrytised Chenin grapes on the Simonsberg, made only in relevant years, has been hailed one of the "Cape's best stickies" by Atkin.
Neal Martin even commented on the 2021 vintage, having rated it 95 points saying: "Miles Mossop knows his way around sweet wine."
The five Chapter wines comprise two old vine Chenins from the Swartland and Stellenbosch, one old bush vine Sauvignon Blanc from Stellenbosch and a Cinsault from the Darling side of the Swartland. A Cabernet Sauvignon is set to complete the book next year.
These wines have consistently been among the top-rated wines of the Cape, with the Sam representing the pinnacle of Miles' production and being a wine to be cellared. You know, once you've set up the cellar, for God's sake let the wine lie for a while. All you need is a well-appointed, dark cupboard (wildly fluctuating temperatures are no good) and a wet cork – thus laying the bottle on its side, protecting the juice from oxygen. We make a plan, no?
I think, for now, the range is complete, given that Miles will either have to gain or lose a family member to introduce another wine, though the people he's got here are pretty perfect as they are.
You can shop the full range on his website here.
Miles Mossop Sam 2020 - 97 points
Stellenbosch (14.5%)
"Cooler Stellenbosch" is Miles Mossop's summary of the origins of this assemblage of Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc, sourced from four growers in Bottelary and the Polkadraai Hills. Gentle, graceful, smooth and sophisticated, it's a Bordeaux-style blend for Pinot Noir lovers. Leafy, savoury and detailed with cigar box, bramble and red berry flavours, as well as a sprig of mint." – Tim Atkin MW.
