2020 Sadie Family Palladius
| Wijnsoort | Wit |
|---|---|
| Land | Zuid-Afrika |
| Regio | |
| Appellatie | Swartland (Appellatie) |
| Wijnhuis | |
| Jaar | 2020 |
| Druif | , , , , Roussane, |
| Inhoud (Alc) | 0.75 ltr (14%) |
| Drink venster | 2023 - 2048 |
Lage voorraad
Nog maar 3 over
Omschrijving
Palladius is het topmodel onder de witte wijnen van de Sadie Family. Het is een blend van 17 wijngaarden in Paardeberg: 13 wijngaarden met een granieten ondergrond en 4 wijngaarden met zandsteen. Het is blend van en hou je vast: Chenin Blanc, Garnacha Blanca, Marsanne, Palomino, Roussanne, Verdello en een beetje Viognier. Alles wordt met de hand geplukt en er wordt geperst in een authentieke traditionele pers waarna het sap direct in beton (betonnen eieren) en amforen wordt gedaan waarna de wijn allereerst op zijn droessem rustig mag rijpen. Hierna wordt de wijn overheveld naar grote, gebruikte eiken vaten zodat de houtinvloed minimaal is. De gisting is alleen met autochtone gisten en zonder toevoegingen. De gisting stopt op een spontane manier (soms pas na 20 maanden). Na 2 jaar wordt de wijn gebotteld, zonder dat deze geklaard of gefilterd wordt.
De Palladius uit is bleekgoud van kleur. De neus is jeugdig met een belangrijke onderliggende minerale essentie onder de aroma's van wasachtige citrusbloesem, citroengras en honingraat, meloen en gele appelschil. Medium-bodied, elegant en complex met 13,5% alcohol is de wijn majestueus in de mond en heeft een minerale spanning, een wasachtig en textuurachtig mondgevoel en een geweldige fenolische bitterheid om deze topper onder de gastronomische wijnen vele jaren geweldig te houden Parker eindigt zijn beoordeling met: "The wine glides to an impeccable, long-lingering and spicy finish with persistent elements of citrus and soft notions of sautéed almonds. I might have to finish the glass"
WEETJE: In de tab ‘Bijlagen’ vindt u de officiële factsheet van deze fraaie wijn. Wij sturen u deze automatisch toe bij een bestelling van deze wijn. De wijn ligt in ons geconditioneerde Wine Warehouse en als u de wijn komt afhalen ontvangt u vaak ook nog een mooie korting. U ziet uw korting direct wanneer u kiest voor ‘Afhalen’ op de afrekenpagina. We zitten in Dordrecht gelegen bijna naast de A16 met volop parkeergelegenheid. Klik hier voor ons adres.
Specificaties
| Wijnsoort | Wit |
|---|---|
| Land | Zuid-Afrika |
| Regio | Western Cape |
| Appellatie | Swartland (Appellatie) |
| Wijnhuis | Sadie Family |
| Druif | Chenin Blanc, Garnacha, Grenache, Palomino, Roussane, Viognier |
| Biologisch gecertificeerd | Nee |
| Natural wijn | Nee |
| Vegan | Nee |
| Jaar | 2020 |
| Drinken vanaf | 2023 |
| Drinken tot | 2048 |
| Alcohol % | 14 |
| Alcoholvrij/arm | Nee |
| Inhoud | 0.75 ltr |
| Houtrijping | Ja |
| Bubbels | Nee |
| Dessert wijn | Nee |
| Afsluiting | Kurk |
| Parker rating | 99 |
| James Suckling rating | 96 |
| Vinous rating | 96 |
| Smaakprofiel | Aromatisch, Bloemig, Droog, Fruitig, Houtgerijpt, Krachtig, Rijk, Rond, Steenfruit, Vol, Wit fruit |
| Drink momenten | Met vrienden, Summer party, Terras |
Professionele Recensies
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 95
Reviewed by:
Anthony Mueller
Release Price:
NA
Drink Date:
2022 - 2045
Delivering aromas of lemon oil, raw honeycomb, wax melon and underripe peach skin, the 2019 Palladius is gorgeous on the nose, with a delightful floral lift and dusty nuance. Medium-bodied on the palate, the wine offers notions of dusty honeysuckle, underripe peach skin and citrus blossom along with lovely mineral tension and a kiss of phenolic bitterness. This will remain food-friendly until its 20th birthday. Every time I try these wines, they never seem to fail to deliver pleasure. Absolutely stunning!
Published: Jun 09, 2022
The Wine Advocate
RP 99
Reviewed by:
Anthony Mueller
Release Price:
$145
Drink Date:
2025 - 2045
Toeing the line to triple digits, the 2021 Palladius is a blend of Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Sémillon, Colombard, Verdellho and Palomino. Instantly impressive in the glass, the wine is bold with waxy aromas that sway with seductive notes of lemon pastry cream, dusty melon and citrus blossoms. Medium-bodied and with 13.7% alcohol, the palate is succulent and bright with fantastic acid and displays a kiss of phenolic bitterness that beams with focus and precision. Subtle notes of beeswax and lees drive the finish with immense complexity and considerable weight. The aftertaste summersaults with complexity, offering fresh and bright citrus notes with notions of dusty flowers. It will remain food friendly for decades. It's devastatingly beautiful and cerebral. 12,400 bottles were produced after the grapes were whole-bunch pressed and rested in concrete and amphora.
Published: Dec 29, 2023
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
James Suckling
SADIE FAMILY SWARTLAND PALLADIUS 2021
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
CountrySouth Africa
RegionCoastal Region
Vintage2021
CHECK PRICE
DOWNLOAD SHELFTALKER
Score
96
This is showing aromas of waxed lemons, thyme, grapefruit rind, mango stones, apricots, white flowers and sea shells. Seductively supple, fresh, with bright acidity and a seashell-like minerality. Sophisticated, seamless blend that makes you think. Holding back a little at the moment. Blend of 35% chenin blanc, with equal parts of marsanne, roussanne, clairette, colombard, viognier, verdelho, palomino, grenache blanc, grenache gris, semillon blanc and semillon gris. Try from 2024.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Vinous
96
Drinking Window
2025 - 2050
From: The A to Z of South Africa (Nov 2023)
The 2021 Palladius is aged in concrete eggs and amphora for 12 months plus 12 months in old foudre. Sadie said he is most proud of this vintage over the last decade. It has a well-defined lanolin, yellow fruit, melted candle wax and fern nose. The palate is supremely well-balanced, with a killer line of acidity counterbalancing the concentration. An underlying touch of bitter lemon and ginger surfaces towards the harmonious and persistent finish. Superb energy here.
- By Neal Martin on August 2023
No trip to the Cape would be complete without visiting Eben Sadie in Swartland. Before we tasted his 2022s, Sadie gave me a tour of his impressive new winery under construction. One thing that he or his sons, who are taking an increasing active role in the running, will be short of in the future is space. “The 2022 was a difficult vintage on paper,” Sadie explains. “All the rain fell to the south of Swartland, and so we had a hangover of drought. We didn’t have a good winter. Just after flowering, after fruit set, we reduced our crop by half, taking it down one bunch per shoot, and we thinned the shoots right down to maintain a conservative canopy management. It’s one of the benefits of having a fixed team of 26 people. Also, we have had the lowest alcohol levels ever, bringing in the fruit below 13.5% potential alcohol. I’m fascinated by the 2022s because they are way better than I thought they would be. It’s a radical and expensive vintage for us because we bottled very little. It’s been a revelation. It will be interesting to see if we can have the same levels of alcohol in a wetter year. We’ll do some trials to see if it is possible.” This is a brilliant range of 2022s under his Old Vine Series umbrella that includes one new cuvée, a pure Chenin Blanc from Swartland named Rotsbank that Sadie told me he had waited 14 years to make. The 2022 Skurfberg might well constitute the vinous highlight of my trip, consistently ranking amongst his best wines. Maybe just the Kokerboom left me wanting more. The 2021 Columella, his blend of Rhône varieties now around two decades old is wonderful, less powerful than older vintages yet imbued with greater finesse and articulating its site with greater clarity.
94
Drinking Window
2023 - 2040
From: Finding Cool Sunshine: South Africa (Apr 2021)
The 2018 Palladius is a blend of 12 grape varieties, whole-cluster-pressed and matured in clay and concrete amphorae. Only Eben Sadie can take a gallimaufry of grape varieties and create a wine of this caliber. It has a clean, pure bouquet of wax resin, pine needles, greengage plum and light chamomile scents that gain intensity with aeration. The palate is bright and vivacious on the entry and displays a wonderful waxy texture; peach skin, hazelnut and saline notes appear toward the finish. It's all about the umami.
- By Neal Martin on April 2021
It had been too long since I shot the breeze with Eben Sadie. Even though we couldn’t chat in his natural habitat, the vineyard, our Zoom conversation between Surrey and the Swartland was the next best thing. As expected, our conversation meandered to cover all manner of subjects, not only pertaining to South Africa. Eben Sadie is a contradiction in the sense that he is wedded to his homeland yet has a catholic taste in wine, as evidenced by rows of Burgundy and Barolo bottles lining his office. He began in typically philosophical form, looking back at his professional career.
“I have surpassed everything I set out to do and forged a team around me with similar capabilities. You need people to follow with the same trajectory, people that buy into your vision. It’s like a painter. You need a good studio where you feel free to practice your art. Wine is the same, but there are all these people who make it possible. We’ve gone from a staff of 10 to 25, mostly on the viticultural side. We have also acquired land, so that 80% of the vineyards are completely controlled by ourselves, even if from a financial standpoint it is much less profitable. Also, we have planted different grape varieties, which is exciting, though not all are successful.”
One intriguing exchange concerned how Sadie reassesses the modus operandi in the winery every decade. In introducing a new approach – a change in punch-downs or aging vessel, for example – he wants to pressure-test that technique under different growing seasons and/or with different people, in order to gauge if it should be a permanent feature. Since the 2019 vintage is the 20th anniversary of Sadie Family Wines, it prompted Sadie to look back. To take just one facet of winemaking, he sees the first decade as one where everything was destemmed, then a decade when whole bunch was almost mandatory. Going forward, he plans to adopt a more nuanced approach.
“Whole cluster is such a huge debate at the moment. When you look at regional specifics, areas with very cool climates producing fruit with high acidity, low pH and often very low potassium are most suited to whole bunch. [Looking back at previous vintages] we found in the first decade that there was a level and sophistication of tannin that was better than in the second decade. It feels like a textural aspect was lost. The second finding was that the Swartland being low in acidity and high in potassium in the stems, compounded by the droughts, means that I don’t think Swartland is the best place for whole cluster. Therefore, for the Old Vine Series reds, we took the whole cluster down from 90% to 50% in 2019. We don’t do punch-downs but more like a délestage, so that is what we will do going forward.”
We then drilled down to discuss individual wines within his Old Vine Series of releases, commencing with the reds.
“With respect to the 2019 Soldaat, you might have noticed a vegetal aspect in the Grenache,” Sadie told me. “In late December we have started removing leaves around the bunches to remove that aspect. I like it, but I like very austere and ungiving wines. Pofadder is a pure Cinsault vineyard, one where I noticed that it crops much lower. I don’t subscribe to the view that low crops are necessarily the best, but here I think it is a good thing. The actual bunches are smaller. We used to get a lot of side bunches but they’ve not appeared in the last three years. That’s nothing that we have done.”
Eben Sadie is a huge fan of Tinta Barocca and once he starts on the subject, you can do little to stop him.
“The Tinta Barocca [the variety behind Trienspoor] has had the biggest leap in quality. I think it is the best grape planted in the Swartland but it’s an unknown. Even producers don’t know where to plant it. For the 2019 we had one tank completely destemmed and another half-destemmed, so it was 20% destemmed overall, though 2021 is completely destemmed. It has Piedmont-like tannins and Northern Rhône aromatics. The problem is that it has very low yields, which is why Portuguese growers did not plant it widely after the war, when they were getting paid per kilo. But it has such intensity of flavor that I have to stop my pickers from eating the grapes during harvest. The viticulture is much better in this vineyard now. Also, the aging is improved, using conical vats and one foudre to give a little more tannin.”
Sadie is one of the rare breeds of winemakers with no qualms about admitting that he could have done better, even though personally, I construe it as a bit of serendipity.
“The Skurfberg [pure Chenin Blanc] was maybe picked earlier than I wanted. The drought was at its peak and yields were down to 12hl/ha instead of 25-28hl/ha. We could have picked a week later, but we would have possibly killed the vines. Even picking earlier, some vines died because in some places there was just 118mm of rain, half the norm. So it has more acidity than normal, with a green line running through the wine. It’s very strict. I’ll be watching this wine out of the corner of my eye to see whether that earlier picking is something we should pursue. Mev. Kirsten is one of those wines where I talk with a pride that can border on arrogance. But there is no vineyard like it. It’s one of the most difficult soils that we farm – it gets so wet quickly and dries just as quick. We have put a lot of organic material in that vineyard over the last 10 years. From 2017 onward it has entered a completely different realm. I took a six-pack to Burgundy and poured it for some growers, and a couple said that it drinks like a Grand Cru. That’s a huge compliment. I’m so proud of the viticulture here. I would take Aubert de Villaine into that vineyard to show him.”
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
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Wijnhuis
Eben Sadie is na jaren werk in Priorat en de oprichting van Terroir al Limit, teruggekeerd naar zijn roots. Om het in zijn eigen woorden te zeggen: "Een wijnmaker moet in zijn streek van herkomst wijnen maken. Daar waar hij terroir het beste zou moeten kennen." De wijnwereld kent een aantal helden, en Eben Sadie is daar één van.
Eben studeerde af als oenoloog te Elsenburg (Zuid-Afrika). Daar raakte hij geïntegreerd door de wijnstok: een plant die zoveel diversiteit biedt, 5000 variëteiten over de hele wereld. Sadie reisde gedurende 8 jaar de wereld rond en werkte zowel in bedrijven die jaarlijks 6 miljoen liter wijn maken als in bedrijven die maar 6 vaten produceren. Hij kwam terecht in Duitsland, Frankrijk, Spanje, Oostenrijk, Oregon en Californië, om uiteindelijk naar zijn vaderland Zuid-Afrika terug te keren. Daar wordt hij nu gerekend tot de nieuwe garde wijnmakers die de Nieuwe Wereld een betere reputatie willen bezorgen.
Hij vestigde zich in Swartland (1999), een nieuwe wijnregio voor Zuid-Afrika. Tegelijk brak hij resoluut met de gewoonte in de Nieuwe Wereld om wijnen van één enkele druivensoort te maken: hij koos voor blends van complementaire druivensoorten. De reden daarvoor baseerde hij op een nuchtere analyse: "Overal in de wereld worden wijnen van verschillende druivensoorten gemaakt in een mediterraan, zuidelijk klimaat, terwijl de wijnen van één enkele druivensoort vooral voorkomen in een continentaal, meer noordelijk klimaat.
De meeste landen genieten daar van een mediterraan klimaat, maar toch begon men er wijnen van één druivensoort te maken: van Cabernet Sauvignon, van Merlot, van Chardonnay enzovoort. Dat had in het begin succes, omdat het nieuw was en omdat de druivensoort sterk op de voorgrond werd geplaatst. Maar echt grote wijnen maak je daar niet mee. Het gevolg is dat de Nieuwe Wereld goed scoort in de lagere prijsklassen, maar niet gezien wordt als een leverancier van grote wijnen. Dat wil ik veranderen."
Sadie zette zijn visie meteen om in de praktijk. Hij plantte de druivensoorten aan die in het zuidelijke Rhônegebied de beste resultaten geven : Syrah, Grenache en Mourvèdre. 43 ha verdeeld over 48 verschillende percelen, biodynamisch bewerkt en verwerkt. Daarnaast wist hij nog tal van oude wijngaarden te ontdekken, ze te restaureren en een nieuw leven te geven (Ouwingerd-reeks). En net zoals in de tijd van Terroir al Limit, gaf hij de wijnen eigenheid en voorzag hij ze van zijn eigen handtekening, die van verfijning.
De Swartlandregio strekt zich uit ten noorden van Kaapstad, tussen Durbanville en Piketberg, naar het binnenland toe vanaf de Atlantische Oceaan, met Malmesbury in het midden ervan. De regio heeft een heel stabiel klimaat, waardoor elk jaar een heel consequente kwaliteit kan bereikt worden. Alle druiven zijn afkomstig van wijngaarden die niet geïrrigeerd worden, gelegen in de regio Swartland.Eben Sadie is een wijnfilosoof in vele opzichten. Hierdoor gebruikt hij vele oude technieken in combinatie met experimenten.
Zo fermenteert hij gedeeltes van zijn wijn in grote betonnen ‘eieren’, Stöckinger-foeders, amforen en gebruikt hij houten vaten die niet getoast zijn. Ook is hij een experiment begonnen met het fermenteren in kruiken die gemaakt zijn van de grond rondom het wijnhuis en die tijdens de fermentatie begraven worden. Deze techniek is al zeer oud en stamt uit het Balkangebied.
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Palladius is het topmodel onder de witte wijnen van de Sadie Family. Het is een blend van 17 wijngaarden in Paardeberg: 13 wijngaarden met een granieten ondergrond en 4 wijngaarden met zandsteen. Het is blend van en hou je vast: Chenin Blanc, Garnacha Blanca, Marsanne, Palomino, Roussanne, Verdello en een beetje Viognier. Alles wordt met de hand geplukt en er wordt geperst in een authentieke traditionele pers waarna het sap direct in beton (betonnen eieren) en amforen wordt gedaan waarna de wijn allereerst op zijn droessem rustig mag rijpen. Hierna wordt de wijn overheveld naar grote, gebruikte eiken vaten zodat de houtinvloed minimaal is. De gisting is alleen met autochtone gisten en zonder toevoegingen. De gisting stopt op een spontane manier (soms pas na 20 maanden). Na 2 jaar wordt de wijn gebotteld, zonder dat deze geklaard of gefilterd wordt.
De Palladius uit is bleekgoud van kleur. De neus is jeugdig met een belangrijke onderliggende minerale essentie onder de aroma's van wasachtige citrusbloesem, citroengras en honingraat, meloen en gele appelschil. Medium-bodied, elegant en complex met 13,5% alcohol is de wijn majestueus in de mond en heeft een minerale spanning, een wasachtig en textuurachtig mondgevoel en een geweldige fenolische bitterheid om deze topper onder de gastronomische wijnen vele jaren geweldig te houden Parker eindigt zijn beoordeling met: "The wine glides to an impeccable, long-lingering and spicy finish with persistent elements of citrus and soft notions of sautéed almonds. I might have to finish the glass"
WEETJE: In de tab ‘Bijlagen’ vindt u de officiële factsheet van deze fraaie wijn. Wij sturen u deze automatisch toe bij een bestelling van deze wijn. De wijn ligt in ons geconditioneerde Wine Warehouse en als u de wijn komt afhalen ontvangt u vaak ook nog een mooie korting. U ziet uw korting direct wanneer u kiest voor ‘Afhalen’ op de afrekenpagina. We zitten in Dordrecht gelegen bijna naast de A16 met volop parkeergelegenheid. Klik hier voor ons adres.
| Wijnsoort | Wit |
|---|---|
| Land | Zuid-Afrika |
| Regio | Western Cape |
| Appellatie | Swartland (Appellatie) |
| Wijnhuis | Sadie Family |
| Druif | Chenin Blanc, Garnacha, Grenache, Palomino, Roussane, Viognier |
| Biologisch gecertificeerd | Nee |
| Natural wijn | Nee |
| Vegan | Nee |
| Jaar | 2020 |
| Drinken vanaf | 2023 |
| Drinken tot | 2048 |
| Alcohol % | 14 |
| Alcoholvrij/arm | Nee |
| Inhoud | 0.75 ltr |
| Houtrijping | Ja |
| Bubbels | Nee |
| Dessert wijn | Nee |
| Afsluiting | Kurk |
| Parker rating | 99 |
| James Suckling rating | 96 |
| Vinous rating | 96 |
| Smaakprofiel | Aromatisch, Bloemig, Droog, Fruitig, Houtgerijpt, Krachtig, Rijk, Rond, Steenfruit, Vol, Wit fruit |
| Drink momenten | Met vrienden, Summer party, Terras |
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 95
Reviewed by:
Anthony Mueller
Release Price:
NA
Drink Date:
2022 - 2045
Delivering aromas of lemon oil, raw honeycomb, wax melon and underripe peach skin, the 2019 Palladius is gorgeous on the nose, with a delightful floral lift and dusty nuance. Medium-bodied on the palate, the wine offers notions of dusty honeysuckle, underripe peach skin and citrus blossom along with lovely mineral tension and a kiss of phenolic bitterness. This will remain food-friendly until its 20th birthday. Every time I try these wines, they never seem to fail to deliver pleasure. Absolutely stunning!
Published: Jun 09, 2022
The Wine Advocate
RP 99
Reviewed by:
Anthony Mueller
Release Price:
$145
Drink Date:
2025 - 2045
Toeing the line to triple digits, the 2021 Palladius is a blend of Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Sémillon, Colombard, Verdellho and Palomino. Instantly impressive in the glass, the wine is bold with waxy aromas that sway with seductive notes of lemon pastry cream, dusty melon and citrus blossoms. Medium-bodied and with 13.7% alcohol, the palate is succulent and bright with fantastic acid and displays a kiss of phenolic bitterness that beams with focus and precision. Subtle notes of beeswax and lees drive the finish with immense complexity and considerable weight. The aftertaste summersaults with complexity, offering fresh and bright citrus notes with notions of dusty flowers. It will remain food friendly for decades. It's devastatingly beautiful and cerebral. 12,400 bottles were produced after the grapes were whole-bunch pressed and rested in concrete and amphora.
Published: Dec 29, 2023
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
James Suckling
SADIE FAMILY SWARTLAND PALLADIUS 2021
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
CountrySouth Africa
RegionCoastal Region
Vintage2021
CHECK PRICE
DOWNLOAD SHELFTALKER
Score
96
This is showing aromas of waxed lemons, thyme, grapefruit rind, mango stones, apricots, white flowers and sea shells. Seductively supple, fresh, with bright acidity and a seashell-like minerality. Sophisticated, seamless blend that makes you think. Holding back a little at the moment. Blend of 35% chenin blanc, with equal parts of marsanne, roussanne, clairette, colombard, viognier, verdelho, palomino, grenache blanc, grenache gris, semillon blanc and semillon gris. Try from 2024.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Vinous
96
Drinking Window
2025 - 2050
From: The A to Z of South Africa (Nov 2023)
The 2021 Palladius is aged in concrete eggs and amphora for 12 months plus 12 months in old foudre. Sadie said he is most proud of this vintage over the last decade. It has a well-defined lanolin, yellow fruit, melted candle wax and fern nose. The palate is supremely well-balanced, with a killer line of acidity counterbalancing the concentration. An underlying touch of bitter lemon and ginger surfaces towards the harmonious and persistent finish. Superb energy here.
- By Neal Martin on August 2023
No trip to the Cape would be complete without visiting Eben Sadie in Swartland. Before we tasted his 2022s, Sadie gave me a tour of his impressive new winery under construction. One thing that he or his sons, who are taking an increasing active role in the running, will be short of in the future is space. “The 2022 was a difficult vintage on paper,” Sadie explains. “All the rain fell to the south of Swartland, and so we had a hangover of drought. We didn’t have a good winter. Just after flowering, after fruit set, we reduced our crop by half, taking it down one bunch per shoot, and we thinned the shoots right down to maintain a conservative canopy management. It’s one of the benefits of having a fixed team of 26 people. Also, we have had the lowest alcohol levels ever, bringing in the fruit below 13.5% potential alcohol. I’m fascinated by the 2022s because they are way better than I thought they would be. It’s a radical and expensive vintage for us because we bottled very little. It’s been a revelation. It will be interesting to see if we can have the same levels of alcohol in a wetter year. We’ll do some trials to see if it is possible.” This is a brilliant range of 2022s under his Old Vine Series umbrella that includes one new cuvée, a pure Chenin Blanc from Swartland named Rotsbank that Sadie told me he had waited 14 years to make. The 2022 Skurfberg might well constitute the vinous highlight of my trip, consistently ranking amongst his best wines. Maybe just the Kokerboom left me wanting more. The 2021 Columella, his blend of Rhône varieties now around two decades old is wonderful, less powerful than older vintages yet imbued with greater finesse and articulating its site with greater clarity.
94
Drinking Window
2023 - 2040
From: Finding Cool Sunshine: South Africa (Apr 2021)
The 2018 Palladius is a blend of 12 grape varieties, whole-cluster-pressed and matured in clay and concrete amphorae. Only Eben Sadie can take a gallimaufry of grape varieties and create a wine of this caliber. It has a clean, pure bouquet of wax resin, pine needles, greengage plum and light chamomile scents that gain intensity with aeration. The palate is bright and vivacious on the entry and displays a wonderful waxy texture; peach skin, hazelnut and saline notes appear toward the finish. It's all about the umami.
- By Neal Martin on April 2021
It had been too long since I shot the breeze with Eben Sadie. Even though we couldn’t chat in his natural habitat, the vineyard, our Zoom conversation between Surrey and the Swartland was the next best thing. As expected, our conversation meandered to cover all manner of subjects, not only pertaining to South Africa. Eben Sadie is a contradiction in the sense that he is wedded to his homeland yet has a catholic taste in wine, as evidenced by rows of Burgundy and Barolo bottles lining his office. He began in typically philosophical form, looking back at his professional career.
“I have surpassed everything I set out to do and forged a team around me with similar capabilities. You need people to follow with the same trajectory, people that buy into your vision. It’s like a painter. You need a good studio where you feel free to practice your art. Wine is the same, but there are all these people who make it possible. We’ve gone from a staff of 10 to 25, mostly on the viticultural side. We have also acquired land, so that 80% of the vineyards are completely controlled by ourselves, even if from a financial standpoint it is much less profitable. Also, we have planted different grape varieties, which is exciting, though not all are successful.”
One intriguing exchange concerned how Sadie reassesses the modus operandi in the winery every decade. In introducing a new approach – a change in punch-downs or aging vessel, for example – he wants to pressure-test that technique under different growing seasons and/or with different people, in order to gauge if it should be a permanent feature. Since the 2019 vintage is the 20th anniversary of Sadie Family Wines, it prompted Sadie to look back. To take just one facet of winemaking, he sees the first decade as one where everything was destemmed, then a decade when whole bunch was almost mandatory. Going forward, he plans to adopt a more nuanced approach.
“Whole cluster is such a huge debate at the moment. When you look at regional specifics, areas with very cool climates producing fruit with high acidity, low pH and often very low potassium are most suited to whole bunch. [Looking back at previous vintages] we found in the first decade that there was a level and sophistication of tannin that was better than in the second decade. It feels like a textural aspect was lost. The second finding was that the Swartland being low in acidity and high in potassium in the stems, compounded by the droughts, means that I don’t think Swartland is the best place for whole cluster. Therefore, for the Old Vine Series reds, we took the whole cluster down from 90% to 50% in 2019. We don’t do punch-downs but more like a délestage, so that is what we will do going forward.”
We then drilled down to discuss individual wines within his Old Vine Series of releases, commencing with the reds.
“With respect to the 2019 Soldaat, you might have noticed a vegetal aspect in the Grenache,” Sadie told me. “In late December we have started removing leaves around the bunches to remove that aspect. I like it, but I like very austere and ungiving wines. Pofadder is a pure Cinsault vineyard, one where I noticed that it crops much lower. I don’t subscribe to the view that low crops are necessarily the best, but here I think it is a good thing. The actual bunches are smaller. We used to get a lot of side bunches but they’ve not appeared in the last three years. That’s nothing that we have done.”
Eben Sadie is a huge fan of Tinta Barocca and once he starts on the subject, you can do little to stop him.
“The Tinta Barocca [the variety behind Trienspoor] has had the biggest leap in quality. I think it is the best grape planted in the Swartland but it’s an unknown. Even producers don’t know where to plant it. For the 2019 we had one tank completely destemmed and another half-destemmed, so it was 20% destemmed overall, though 2021 is completely destemmed. It has Piedmont-like tannins and Northern Rhône aromatics. The problem is that it has very low yields, which is why Portuguese growers did not plant it widely after the war, when they were getting paid per kilo. But it has such intensity of flavor that I have to stop my pickers from eating the grapes during harvest. The viticulture is much better in this vineyard now. Also, the aging is improved, using conical vats and one foudre to give a little more tannin.”
Sadie is one of the rare breeds of winemakers with no qualms about admitting that he could have done better, even though personally, I construe it as a bit of serendipity.
“The Skurfberg [pure Chenin Blanc] was maybe picked earlier than I wanted. The drought was at its peak and yields were down to 12hl/ha instead of 25-28hl/ha. We could have picked a week later, but we would have possibly killed the vines. Even picking earlier, some vines died because in some places there was just 118mm of rain, half the norm. So it has more acidity than normal, with a green line running through the wine. It’s very strict. I’ll be watching this wine out of the corner of my eye to see whether that earlier picking is something we should pursue. Mev. Kirsten is one of those wines where I talk with a pride that can border on arrogance. But there is no vineyard like it. It’s one of the most difficult soils that we farm – it gets so wet quickly and dries just as quick. We have put a lot of organic material in that vineyard over the last 10 years. From 2017 onward it has entered a completely different realm. I took a six-pack to Burgundy and poured it for some growers, and a couple said that it drinks like a Grand Cru. That’s a huge compliment. I’m so proud of the viticulture here. I would take Aubert de Villaine into that vineyard to show him.”
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Eben Sadie is na jaren werk in Priorat en de oprichting van Terroir al Limit, teruggekeerd naar zijn roots. Om het in zijn eigen woorden te zeggen: "Een wijnmaker moet in zijn streek van herkomst wijnen maken. Daar waar hij terroir het beste zou moeten kennen." De wijnwereld kent een aantal helden, en Eben Sadie is daar één van.
Eben studeerde af als oenoloog te Elsenburg (Zuid-Afrika). Daar raakte hij geïntegreerd door de wijnstok: een plant die zoveel diversiteit biedt, 5000 variëteiten over de hele wereld. Sadie reisde gedurende 8 jaar de wereld rond en werkte zowel in bedrijven die jaarlijks 6 miljoen liter wijn maken als in bedrijven die maar 6 vaten produceren. Hij kwam terecht in Duitsland, Frankrijk, Spanje, Oostenrijk, Oregon en Californië, om uiteindelijk naar zijn vaderland Zuid-Afrika terug te keren. Daar wordt hij nu gerekend tot de nieuwe garde wijnmakers die de Nieuwe Wereld een betere reputatie willen bezorgen.
Hij vestigde zich in Swartland (1999), een nieuwe wijnregio voor Zuid-Afrika. Tegelijk brak hij resoluut met de gewoonte in de Nieuwe Wereld om wijnen van één enkele druivensoort te maken: hij koos voor blends van complementaire druivensoorten. De reden daarvoor baseerde hij op een nuchtere analyse: "Overal in de wereld worden wijnen van verschillende druivensoorten gemaakt in een mediterraan, zuidelijk klimaat, terwijl de wijnen van één enkele druivensoort vooral voorkomen in een continentaal, meer noordelijk klimaat.
De meeste landen genieten daar van een mediterraan klimaat, maar toch begon men er wijnen van één druivensoort te maken: van Cabernet Sauvignon, van Merlot, van Chardonnay enzovoort. Dat had in het begin succes, omdat het nieuw was en omdat de druivensoort sterk op de voorgrond werd geplaatst. Maar echt grote wijnen maak je daar niet mee. Het gevolg is dat de Nieuwe Wereld goed scoort in de lagere prijsklassen, maar niet gezien wordt als een leverancier van grote wijnen. Dat wil ik veranderen."
Sadie zette zijn visie meteen om in de praktijk. Hij plantte de druivensoorten aan die in het zuidelijke Rhônegebied de beste resultaten geven : Syrah, Grenache en Mourvèdre. 43 ha verdeeld over 48 verschillende percelen, biodynamisch bewerkt en verwerkt. Daarnaast wist hij nog tal van oude wijngaarden te ontdekken, ze te restaureren en een nieuw leven te geven (Ouwingerd-reeks). En net zoals in de tijd van Terroir al Limit, gaf hij de wijnen eigenheid en voorzag hij ze van zijn eigen handtekening, die van verfijning.
De Swartlandregio strekt zich uit ten noorden van Kaapstad, tussen Durbanville en Piketberg, naar het binnenland toe vanaf de Atlantische Oceaan, met Malmesbury in het midden ervan. De regio heeft een heel stabiel klimaat, waardoor elk jaar een heel consequente kwaliteit kan bereikt worden. Alle druiven zijn afkomstig van wijngaarden die niet geïrrigeerd worden, gelegen in de regio Swartland.Eben Sadie is een wijnfilosoof in vele opzichten. Hierdoor gebruikt hij vele oude technieken in combinatie met experimenten.
Zo fermenteert hij gedeeltes van zijn wijn in grote betonnen ‘eieren’, Stöckinger-foeders, amforen en gebruikt hij houten vaten die niet getoast zijn. Ook is hij een experiment begonnen met het fermenteren in kruiken die gemaakt zijn van de grond rondom het wijnhuis en die tijdens de fermentatie begraven worden. Deze techniek is al zeer oud en stamt uit het Balkangebied.
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