CHRIS MULLINEUX OF MULLINEUX WINES ON THE GROWTH OF SOUTH AFRICA'S WINE SCENE

JamesSuckling.com Associate Editor Claire Nesbitt sits down with Chris Mullineux of Mullineux Wines to discuss how the South African wine industry has developed over the last 20 years, where it’s heading and the impact the Covid pandemic has had on it.Chris said that after Nelson Mandela was freed in 1994 and the post-apartheid era began, “South Africans felt we had to kind of imitate the great wines of the world to make an impression, so try to make a great Bordeaux blend – that kind of thing,” he said. But as winemakers’ confidence grew through the years, so did their adaptability and willingness to experiment with different wine styles and varietals, especially when it came to chenin blanc.Now, he said, South African wines have their own authenticity and are “no longer trying to be something else.”