Why it matters
The producer
Muratie’s most useful clue is on the label. Ansela van de Caab, Laurens Campher and George Paul Canitz are not invented cuvée names: each refers to a figure from the estate’s history. That turns the range into more than a sequence of grapes. Ansela van de Caab is the Bordeaux-style red blend, Laurens Campher has become strongly Chenin-led, and George Paul Canitz is Pinot Noir.
The estate remains under Melck-family stewardship, with Rijk Melck and his family identified in a 2021 account. The present range therefore carries old names into bottles with distinct grape and cellar roles, rather than presenting one house style across every wine.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Muratie is in the Knorhoek Valley north of Stellenbosch, within the Western Cape. Stellenbosch is the geographic frame for its red-wine range: Ansela van de Caab uses Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, while George Paul Canitz takes Pinot Noir in another direction. The location joins those different bottles to one estate without flattening their grape character.
The kept material does not establish a soil type, elevation or a reliable vineyard-area figure, so Muratie is best understood through its working ground rather than a numerical estate claim. Vines are hand-harvested, and the estate’s published farming information includes no herbicide use, pest-control measures and sustainability membership. Hand-picked fruit gives the cellar individual lots to handle with care, which matters most when a wine such as Ansela is assembled from four red varieties.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Muratie’s vineyard work is documented as hand harvesting, no herbicide use and active pest control, but there is no verified estate-wide cellar formula to apply to every bottle. The clearer view is bottle by bottle. Ansela van de Caab 2021 spent 16 months in French oak, half of it new, before blending and further maturation; oak therefore sits alongside Cabernet-based fruit and tannin rather than replacing them.
Laurens Campher’s changing Chenin proportion is another reminder that the blend is vintage-sensitive. George Paul Canitz Pinot Noir has its own vineyard, vinification and élevage details, so its perfume, body and texture should not be read through the oak-and-Cabernet structure of Ansela.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range is organised by people and grapes. Ansela van de Caab 2021 is the Bordeaux-style red: 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. Cabernet Sauvignon supplies the largest share of fruit and tannin, while the three supporting grapes make the blend broader in shape; 16 months in French oak adds spice and a dry structural frame.
Laurens Campher is another blended wine, but its modern 85% Chenin Blanc composition puts white-fruit freshness, acidity and texture at the centre of the bottle rather than red-wine grip. Its earlier 2014 blend, led by 46% Chenin Blanc, shows why vintage details matter here. George Paul Canitz Pinot Noir provides the range’s Pinot expression, with a lighter grape framework than the Bordeaux blend and its own cellar treatment.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Ansela van de Caab 2021. It is Muratie’s Bordeaux-style red blend and carries the estate’s most direct connection between bottle and history: Ansela’s name, four classic red varieties and a documented 16 months in French oak, half new. Expect dark fruit, spice, firm tannin, full body and a dry finish. The blend explains Muratie’s red-wine direction without requiring a comparison between vintages, while the label introduces the person at the centre of the estate’s best-known story.