Tim Atkins Sweet Wine of the year! "One of the world’s greatest sweet wines"

Olerasay 6º is Mullineux’s rare Swartland Straw Wine, made from 100% old vine Chenin Blanc grown in decomposed granite on the slopes of the Paardeberg. Each bottling is a fractional solera blend, and this sixth release brings together every vintage from 2008 through to 2025.

Sweet and deeply concentrated yet vibrant and fresh, with just 7.5% alcohol and lively acidity, it is a wine of richness and elegance. Only 315 cases were bottled in 375ml.

The fruit comes from old vine Chenin Blanc growing in decomposed granite high on the slopes of the Paardeberg in the Swartland. The grapes are hand-harvested at normal ripeness, with yields averaging 4 to 6 tons per hectare (24 to 33 hl/ha) before drying. The vineyards were chosen for their vibrant natural acidity, layered flavour and firm, graceful structure.

After harvest the bunches are dried outdoors in breezy conditions for several weeks. This desiccation concentrates the sugars and flavours and also amplifies the zesty acidity that Mullineux believe is essential to a well-balanced Straw Wine. Post-drying recovery averages just 10 to 20%, which means only 2.4 to 6.6 hl/ha of wine. The dried grapes are then crushed and gently pressed into 225 litre barrels, where a long, slow, natural fermentation unfolds. Each year it comes to a natural stop after 8 to 12 months, leaving a harmonious balance of sweetness and acidity.

A vintage Straw Wine is always bottled, but a few barrels are selected each year for a complex solera system of barrel-ageing that was started with the first Mullineux vintage in 2008. The first Olerasay 1º, a fractional blend of 2008 to 2014, was bottled once it had become different enough from the vintage Straw Wine, followed by the 2º in 2020, the 3º in 2022, the 4º in 2023 and the 5º in 2024. This Olerasay 6º draws on the 2008 through 2025 vintages and was bottled on 15 October 2025.

Tasting Notes: Olerasay 6º opens with sun-dried apricots, Fynbos honey and salted marzipan, a deeply rich and generous nose that draws you in immediately. The palate is sweet and concentrated but stays vibrant and fresh, with zesty acidity that lifts the richness and carries the flavour long after the first sip. At just 7.5% alcohol, with 336 g/l of residual sugar balanced by 12.8 g/l of total acidity, it is beautifully poised and wonderfully moreish rather than heavy. The solera of 2008 to 2025 vintages adds layers of complexity, bringing unstoppable length and freshness, and the wine finishes intense and zesty.

Food Pairing: Serve Olerasay 6º well chilled in small glasses. The apricot and honey character is a natural partner for blue cheese such as Stilton or Gorgonzola, where the zesty acidity cuts through the salt and the sweetness answers the sharpness. It is equally good with chicken liver pâté or foie gras on toasted brioche, and with desserts that echo its flavours, such as apricot tarte tatin, almond and marzipan cake, crème brûlée or a salted caramel tart. For something simpler, try it with aged Gouda or Comté and a few dried apricots, or pour it on its own as the final glass of the evening.

The wine also shines alongside gently spiced cuisine. Fragrant Moroccan tagines with preserved lemon and dried fruit create a beautiful interplay of sweetness and savoury spice, while crisp roast pork belly with apple and fennel highlights the wine's balance of richness and freshness. For a South African touch, duck liver parfait served with brioche and onion marmalade offers a luxurious pairing, allowing Olerasay's remarkable concentration and persistence to take centre stage.

The sixth release of this extraordinary solera Chenin Blanc contains components dating back to 2008. Produced in tiny quantities of fewer than 2,000 bottles, it is both youthful and timeless, revealing a rare and captivating expression of Chenin Blanc. Layers of dried fig, honey, marzipan and orange zest unfold alongside a subtle rancio character and a remarkable balance between vibrant acidity and 336 g/l of residual sugar. One of the world's greatest sweet wines. Drink 2026-2033. Tim Atkin: 98/100

"From Paardeberg Chenin Blanc, fractionally blended from harvests between 2008 and 2025. Dried peach and apricot, marmalade, honey and dried herbs on the nose. The palate is counterintuitively light-bodied yet massively intense in flavour, with formidable acidity and an extraordinarily long finish. The lasting impression is of salted nuts. Carries its 336 g/l residual sugar remarkably well and has plenty of verve." Christian Eedes, Winemag.co.za: 97/100