Sadie Family Mev Kirsten 2020
Type: White
Country: South Africa
Region: Swartland
Grape Variety: 100% Chenin Blanc
Viticulture: Biodynamic | Certified Organic
Climate: Warm and dry summers, cool and damp winters
Terroir: Vines grow on decomposed granite on an alluvial base
Winemaking: The young vines are pressed whole-bunch into old 500-litre casks while the old vines are pressed into old foudres. Settling is for about 12 hours during the two pressings and the turbid juice is transferred the next morning. The wine is fermented in casks and foudre on the lees for the first 12 months. Two weeks prior to bottling, the wine is transferred into a blending tank and then bottled unfiltered
Color: Intense yellow
Nose: Spicy and light tropical aromas
Palate: Golden delicious apple characteristics with solid tannins and a very firm and gripping acidity
About the Winery:
Eben Sadie started his winemaking career working for Charles Back’s Spice Route-labelled wines before breaking out on his own in 1999. Since the first release of Columella with the 2000 vintage, he has acquired a reputation as the most innovative and inspired winemaker in South Africa.
His goal is to produce an expression of a region or specific site. This is the philosophy that drives the production of his Signature Series wines – Columella and Palladius. Columella (predominantly Syrah with a little Mourvèdre, Grenache, Carignan and Cinsault) is one of South Africa’s very best wines, if not the best, named after one of the wine trade’s earliest scribes. It is a blend of old-vine fruit from eight Swartland vineyards, spending 24 months in oak (with only a small proportion that is new) and is racked every six months. Eben’s white wine, Palladius, is arguably more impressive still; it is a delicious blend of 11 varieties from 17 different vineyard sites, with old, bush-vine Chenin Blanc playing the leading role.
The Signature Series was joined by the Old Vine Series (Die Ouwingerdreeks in Africaans) with its first commercial release in 2010. This range of wines is the fruition of a project very close to Eben’s heart. He worked with renowned viticulturist, Rosa Kruger, to seek out, revitalise, and in some cases, save old vineyards throughout the Cape. These highly sought-after wines are produced in very limited volumes and offer an incredible vinous insight into South Africa’s grape growing and winemaking history. These, and the Signature Series, are incredible wines from a winemaker at the top of his game.
It is hardly surprising that Sadie Family Wines has been awarded the title of the Platter Guide’s Winery of the Year twice (in 2010 and 2015).
