MR de Compostella – The Compilation of Stars – is a joint venture between two trailblazing South African winemakers, and dear friends, Mzokhona Mvemve and Bruwer Raats (“MR” indicating “Mvemve Raats”). Their vision, back in the early 2000s, was to create a world-class wine every vintage, a wine that would become a Cape icon. 2004 was the inaugural vintage, and in less than twenty years Mzokhona and Bruwer are consistently achieving this vision, with a beautiful Bordeaux blend which is now widely celebrated as “one of the Cape’s finest red wines” (Neal Martin). Such is their ultimate focus on quality that if the vintage does not deliver to their exacting requirements, they declassify the entire production, and in both 2010 and 2019 they did not produce an MR de Compostella, due to heavy March rains affecting harvest. The blend comprises all five Bordeaux grape varieties and is often Cabernet Franc led (though this is of course determined by what the specific vintage yields), with a distinctive graphite streak and dazzling energy. The pair cultivate each variety on what they believe are the best terroirs in Stellenbosch for that variety, a total of 19 different blocks currently – with the Cabernets coming from the Simonsberg, the Merlot from the Helderberg, and the Malbec and Petit Verdot from the Polkadraai Hills. Yields were just 3 to 3.5 tonnes per ha in 2020. All these blocks are vinified separately and, after a year in barrel, are blind tasted and rated by Mzokhona and Bruwer, in order to determine the components of the final blend. Following blending the wine spends another year in oak.
