It takes confidence to charge R1,000 or even R2,000 for a single bottle of wine in South Africa, especially these days. Rarity is worth a premium and quality is non-negotiable, but there also has to be a market prepared to pay the price. There is little doubt that the latest releases of Leeu Passant wines will be snapped up.
What makes this remarkable is that a decade ago, Leeu Passant didn’t exist. In just 10 years, the combination of Indian businessman Analjit Singh and Chris and Andrea Mullineux has brought a range of wines to market that are not only worth every cent of their premium price tags, but are represented in 35 countries, with all markets begging for more. That’s a leonine, rather than bullish, sentiment.
Google’s response to the query “passant in heraldry” delivered the following: “Passant. A beast passant (Old French: striding) walks towards dexter (the viewer’s left) with the right forepaw raised and all others on the ground.” Entirely appropriate because Singh — “Bas” to his friends and family — had made a passing reference to heraldry while speaking at the recent launch of Leeu Passant’s new vintages.
Summarising how the brand and relationship began, Singh recounted the start of his love affair with South Africa and its wines. For him, it was never just one thing: it was the beauty of the place, specifically Franschhoek, the warmth and optimism of the people, the food, the art, the culture, and a wonderful, ineffable sense of peace and rightness, of warmth.
This is not just a drink like other liquor. This is beauty in a glass
— Analjit Singh
As an Indian, he’d grown up with whisky as a beverage, occasionally with beer, but conceded that wine was not part of his lexicon, so the discoveries he made in South Africa were serendipitous. His surname, Singh, means lion — and the Afrikaans word leeu seemed appropriate to apply to his partnership with the Mullineuxes, a husband and wife team who grow and make wine and became his partners in Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines and Leeu Passant. It’s been successful since the start, with Mullineux & Leeu Wines acknowledged as the South African winery of the year in the annual Platter’s Guide in the first year of business together, something they have replicated four more times.
It’s been 10 years since the first Leeu Passant wine was bottled and Singh remains its most vocal fan. “This is not just a drink like other liquor. This is beauty in a glass.” Having been involved in 14 different businesses in India, he says his superpower is knowing something his competitors don’t: nothing. “I knew nothing about wine, which allowed me to find the best possible people who did know.”
“Mind-blowing” is how Chris Mullineux describes how everything came together so rapidly. “One thing we have learnt from Bas is patience — things take time.” But going from zero to local and international hero in just 10 years is hardly an indication of patience, vinously speaking.
Andrea Mullineux says the philosophy of Leeu Passant has been to look back at South Africa’s wine heritage and attempt a modern interpretation — or homage — to some of the greatest styles or grapes.
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The Leeu Passant range comprises a Stellenbosch chardonnay, Stellenbosch cabernet sauvignon, Wellington cinsaut (the country’s oldest registered red wine vineyard, dating back to 1900), Radicales Libres (another chardonnay) and the Leeu Passant, a blend reminiscent of the South African heritage blend of cabernet sauvignon and cinsaut — with a judicious dash of cabernet franc added.
It’s this latter wine that boasts the R2,160 price tag ex-cellar — but there are only 3,940 bottles. Andrea Mullineux says: “This wine encapsulates everything we’re about: heritage and history, a homage to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, but also as classical and refined as we can make it while respecting the fruit and the vineyards.” The Wine Advocate, a leading US publication, rated this wine 95 points out of a possible 100.
Vinification of all the wines is as natural as possible, and thoughtful too. Oak maturation is carefully considered with the size and age of barrels or foudres adapted on a vintage-by-vintage basis, depending on the quality of the fruit. Everything comes down to quality. It’s what has enabled Leeu Passant to stride confidently into the front ranks of South African wine in just a decade.
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