Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines | Coastal Region

After working several vintages at wineries in France, South Africa and California, winemakers Chris and Andrea decided to settle in the Swartland wine region of South Africa, firmly beleiving that the schist and granite based terroirs and old vineyards of the Swartland have the potential to produce truly great wines.

Mullineux Family Wines was established in 2007, and was owned and managed by Chris and Andrea Mullineux, with business partners, Keith Prothero and Peter Dart. Within a very short time period the winery established itself as one of South Africa’s most celebrated wine brands, both locally and on the international front. By 2019 they had received twenty-five 5 star ratings from Platter’s South African Wine Guide, as well as being awarded Platter’s Winery of the Year in 2014, 2016 and 2019. In addition, Andrea Mullineux was named Wine Enthusiast’s 2016 International Winemaker of the Year and in 2017 Chris & Andrea were Tim Atkin’s South African Winemakers of the Year.

Analjit Singh’s love affair with South Africa started when he first visited the country with his daughter for the Soccer World Cup in 2010. On visiting the Franschhoek valley he felt “a deep sense of belonging, of energy, a sense of place” and subsequently purchased 3 adjacent farms which have been amalgamated within his Franschhoek hospitality portfolio Leeu Collection under the name Leeu Estates. The Afrikaans word leeu (meaning lion) is the Sanskrit derivation of Singh. In 2013 Analjit joined forces with Chris and Andrea by purchasing Keith’s shares and the company was renamed Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines.

They are one of the stand-out producers in South Africa's budding Swartland region. Chris and Andrea Mullineux’s ambition is to bottle wines that are a true expression of the Swartland, and all steps of their winemaking process are taken with this in mind. They work closely with a select group of growers who follow sustainable, reasoned farming practices, as well as owning vineyards at their Roundstone Farm in Riebeeksrivier.

For many years, viticulturist Rosa Kruger, had been enthusing to Chris and Andrea about special parcels of vines outside the Swartland, but they couldn’t use these as the Mullineux and Kloof Street ranges are exclusively from Swartland vineyards. However, the partnership of Chris and Andrea with Analjit Singh in 2013, and the renaming of the company to Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines, opened the way for a new project - Leeu Passant - to be based at the wine cellar on Leeu Estates in Franschhoek. Leeu Passant was a fantastic opportunity to harness these exciting vineyards to create something under a new label in a different wine region, but with the same no-compromise approach to quality that Chris and Andrea share with Bas, and with which the Mullineux range of wines is made.

MULLINEUX & LEEU