2021 Miles Mossop Max

Product Description

Wine was always in Miles Mossop’s blood. His father, Tony Mossop, was one of South Africa’s most respected wine authorities, and Miles, who first studied geology, went on to graduate top of his class in viticulture and oenology at Stellenbosch University. In 2000 he became winemaker at the newly founded Tokara estate, and over the next eighteen years he made it one of the most celebrated names in South African wine. Alongside that role, an arrangement with Tokara’s owner allowed him to make a few barrels each year under his own name, and in 2004 Miles Mossop Wines was born.

From the very beginning this was a family affair. Miles named his first wines after his and his wife Samantha’s children. Saskia, a white blend, and Max, a Bordeaux-style red, came first, joined in 2009 by Kika, a luscious Noble Late Harvest Chenin Blanc. Saskia has a charming origin story: Miles had planned a straight Chenin Blanc until Eben Sadie, borrowing his press one Saturday afternoon, left him with a hundred litres of spare Viognier. Added to the blend, it created one of the Cape’s earliest premium white blends. Later came Sam, a Stellenbosch Cabernet named after Samantha, and Tony’s Cape Vintage Reserve, a tribute to his late father.

In 2018, after almost half his life at Tokara, Miles left to devote himself entirely to his own label. His philosophy is beautifully simple: source grapes from exceptional vineyards, pick them at precisely the right moment, and guide them gently through the natural process of winemaking. He works with old bush vines on shale in Stellenbosch and granitic sites on the Paardeberg in the Swartland, fermenting in old oak barrels and concrete eggs to preserve purity and texture. The aim is wines of power and intensity that never lose their elegance and harmony.

Today the range spans three collections. The Introduction offers vibrant, approachable expressions such as the Chenin Blanc. The Chapters are tiny, single-site releases showcasing individual vineyards and varieties, from Swartland Cinsault to Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc. The Family wines remain the pinnacle, each made in minute quantities and dedicated to the people closest to Miles’s heart. Highly acclaimed in South Africa and abroad, they are among the most characterful, beautifully crafted wines the Cape has to offer, and a true reflection of one of its most gifted winemakers.