USA LOW

PRE-ARRIVAL ETA LATE SEPTEMPER 2026

• 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
• Grown on one of Stellenbosch’s coolest sites on the slopes of the Helderberg Mountain
• Iron and sandstone-rich soils
• Hand harvested and destemmed to tanks with only minimal SO2 added
• Fermentation with indigenous yeast lasted 2 weeks with daily pump-overs, not exceeding 26ºC
• After extended maceration, the wine was drained and pressed to barrels
• Matured for 15 months in 500L French oak barrels, 30% were new, then racked and blended into larger format oak for another sixteen months prior to bottling
  

94 points Wine Advocate
The Leeu Passant 2023 Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon was harvested before the rains, preserving purity and finesse in a vintage that demanded careful timing. Rather than pursuing extraction, vintner Andrea Mullineux focused on mid-palate texture and aromatic nuance, revealing blue flowers, dark rose and fragile red-toned fruit wrapped in fine, articulate tannins. The vineyard lies one kilometer from the estate™s Chardonnay site on the Helderberg but sits 100 meters lower at 300 meters in elevation, where a protective hill slightly moderates the wind and warmth. Here, iron-rich soils transition into granite, creating what Mullineux describes as œa smear of iron on top,” with granite tension shaping length and structure. Aged with careful attention to oak evolution, the second year of wood allows aromatics to unfurl while the first year is dedicated to tannin polymerization. Spice and dark fruit carry through a long, poised finish.

91 points Vinous Media
Drinking window: 2027 - 2040
The 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon Stellenbosch comes from a single site around 1 kilometre from the Chardonnay site, but 100 metres lower in altitude on granite soils and Koffieklip. Aged in 500-litre barrels and then 5,000-litre vats for the second year, it has an attractive nose with blackberry, dark chocolate and touches of pencil box. Very distinctive. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, quite austere in style, uncompromising in many ways, with strong graphite notes towards the finish. Give it a couple of years in bottle.

For background information on Leeu Passant, the Franschhoek estate run by Chris and Andrea Mullineux, I recommend reading Producer Commentaries in previous South Africa reports. Andrea Mullineux told me that there has been a change of source for the Radicales Libres, which has improved in both pH and higher total acidity. The latest releases constitute one of the most impressive that I have tasted since the debut. I detected a little more nervosité in the Radicales Libres before Mullineux disclosed the change. Perhaps the standout could be the 2024 Cinsault Wellington Old Vines Basson, from the Cape’s oldest vines, planted in 1900, which proves that this variety benefits from a little more structure and grip.