The Liberator Episode 21 ‘MSG’ Mourvedre Syrah Grenache 2017 Swartland, Western Cape, South Africa 75cl

Every Liberator release is a one-time episode, a parcel rescued by Richard Kelley MW from a Cape winery and never repeated. A Master of Wine who spent years living and working in South Africa, he has the contacts to unearth wines like this one, and the comic-strip labels to match. Many of his episodes are experimental batches or off-cuts from a winery’s premium range, wines that might otherwise never have been bottled on their own.

Episode 21, cheekily titled MSG, points not to the seasoning but to Mourvedre, Syrah and Grenache. It is a Rhone-style red blend led firmly by Mourvedre at around 80%, with Syrah and Grenache in support, and the fruit comes from a parcel at Lammershoek in the warm, dry-farmed Swartland.

The wine is from the 2017 vintage and a moderate 13.5% alcohol. In keeping with the Liberator idea it was bottled once and will not return, so what is in the bottle is all there is.

Mourvedre gives the wine its backbone, all savoury spice and dark, brooding fruit, with Syrah adding pepper and Grenache lifting the perfume. Expect earthy complexity and a warm, gently structured finish rather than sweetness or heavy oak. It is a generous, characterful red that wears its Swartland origins openly.

If you reach for southern Rhone reds or Swartland blends, this fits right in. It is built for hearty food: slow-roast lamb, a rich stew, grilled sausages or a plate of mature cheese on a cold evening. A proper cold-weather red.