Mischa Estate Roussanne 2021

Roussanne and Marsanne sound like the title of a film to many South Africans because these two grape varieties are not as common as in the southern parts of France. I can count the producers of a single varietal Roussanne in South Africa – that I am aware of – on my one hand. Mischa Estate is one of them!

I presented this wine at a group tasting and I had so much fun with it! Firstly, it has a complex bouquet. So much so, that people could not decide whether they experience an intense flower bouquet, herbaceous tones or lanolin. The complex nose can throw some people off completely and they are then hesitant to taste. That is when you see the smiles on their faces! The complexity turns out to be a little explosion in your mouth, with a soft entry of peach and yellow pear. It develops into a very floral taste and the peach and pear flavours become more concentrated on the middle of the palate, almost like a fruit salad. It finishes off with some notes of honey, beeswax and nuts, and a long lingering aftertaste of white flowers.

When drinking this wine, you cannot help to think about a fresh seafood bowl or a truffle risotto to complement this wine. For the adventurous person, this is the ideal! For the foodie, this is a must try! I really enjoyed this unique wine. It is not only the variety that makes it unique, but also the fact that – whenever this variety is made as a single varietal – it is normally heavily wooded; this wine is unwooded.

This wine is vegan-friendly. It is ready to drink now or within the next five years. Unlike Roussannes from other estates, that are mostly available from the wine farm only, the Mischa Estate Roussanne is available from their website and from Partners in Wine.

Producer: Mischa Estate

Variety: Roussanne 100%

Vintage: 2021

Origin: Wellington, Western Cape, South Africa

Winemaker: Andrew Barns

Closure: Natural cork

Alcohol: 13.13%

RS: 1.8g/l

Average price: R170

Rating: 88/100