Sadie Family Palladius 2019 / 2021
Type: White
Country: South Africa
Region: Swartland
Grape Variety: Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Clairette Blanche, Viognier, Verdelho, Roussanne, Marsanne, Semillon Gris, Semillon Blanc, Palomino, Colombard
Viticulture: Biodynamic | Certified Organic
Climate: Warm and dry summers, cool and damp winters
Terroir: A blend of 17 vineyards in Paardeberg: 13 vineyards with a granite base and 4 vineyards with sandstone
Winemaking: Everything is picked by hand and pressed in an authentic traditional press. After which, the juice is poured directly into concrete (concrete eggs) and amphorae, where the wine is first allowed to mature quietly on its lees. The wine is then transferred to large, used oak barrels so that the wood influence is minimal. Fermentation is only using autochthonous yeasts and without additives and stopped spontaneously (approximately only after 20 months). After 2 years, the wine is bottled, without being clarified or filtered
Color: Pale gold
Nose: Deep and complex aroma of yellow plums, kiwi and mango
Palate: Full flavour with notes of dried yellow fruit, grapefruit, butterscotch, salty and apple. The wine is well balanced with a fantastic minerality
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).
