A Tour de Force of Stellenbosch cabernet.
Since he can remember Miles Mossop has been drawn to the ocean. Growing up in Somerset West, and attending Wynberg Boys as a boarder, he says on the weekends he’d jump on the train and go surfing. Now a multi-award-winning Stellenbosch-based winemaker, his path to the vine wasn’t a straight one. First was an attempt at a B. Comm at Stellenbosch University. This he soon discovered wasn’t for him. Getting closer to the subject that would define his life – he graduated with a degree in geology. The job prospects however were about as far from the ocean as you could get, and this avid surfer simply wasn’t having that.
A journey to wine
Inspired somewhat by his father’s passion for wine, and now his deep knowledge of soils from the previous degree – he plunged into his studies again, this time graduating in Viticulture and Oenology.
From there he worked a harvest in Northern California. It was during this period that Tokara was getting off the ground. Building the team, GT Ferreira and Gyles Webb knew Miles was the winemaker for them, and after a brief video interview he was hired. He carved something of a cult following at the Stellenbosch concern, and was integral in building the brand to the fine wine status it enjoys today.
In 2018 however he decided it was time to focus on his own label, Miles Mossop Wines. Luckily, the brand was ready to fly as Miles had begun it all the way back in 2004 – then as a sideline to his job at Tokara.
Family tributes
Today, Miles Mossop Wines consists of three tiers: The Introduction; The Chapters, limited-release wines featuring small-batch winemaking from single-parcel sites; and the flagship ‘Family’, dedicated to his family which he says is the most important thing in his life.
The wines, the following of which are named for his three children, are all highly sought after: Saskia (a white blend), Max (a Bordeaux-style blend), and Kika (a noble late harvest). The most recent addition is in tribute to his wife, Sam. The maiden release of the cabernet was in 2017.
Miles may have always been making waves – but after enjoying a recent tasting with him it’s clear that he has seriously hit his groove after leaving the yoke of being a salaried winemaker. The latest Miles Mossop vintage releases are distinctly elegant, and undoubtedly world-class.
Miles Mossop Sam 2021
The embodiment of silk itself. Seductively scented with drifts of violets, cassis and cedar. Supremely fine, fruit power framed in fine-grained tannins, persistent, with fresh red fruit-toned acidity, absolutely seamed in mouthwatering freshness. The wine spent 22 months in 225-litres French barriques (40% new), adding shine to the dark cherry core. Cabernet sauvignon seasoned with merlot (4%) and petit verdot (3%), the cuvée is composed of components from Bottelary, Helderberg and the Polkadraai Hills, each pocket adding its own distinct Stellenbosch character. Sam 2021 is a tour de force of Stellenbosch cabernet, showing off not only the excellence of the vintage, the diversity of the different wards (and how Miles so adeptly plays with this); but also the culmination and resulting excellence of his two decades of working with the noble grape.
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