2014 The Sadie Family Wines, Skerpioen, Ouwingerdreeks, Swartland, South Africa

2014 The Sadie Family Wines, Skerpioen, Ouwingerdreeks, Swartland, South Africa

Product: 20141354175
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2014 The Sadie Family Wines, Skerpioen, Ouwingerdreeks, Swartland, South Africa

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Description

From equal parts of Palomino Fino (the great sherry variety) and Chenin Blanc, the taut 2014 blend brings back bracing sting in tail - missing in 2013, from vines grown in unique chalky West Coast soils (WO Swartland). Perfect fruit, acid balance and lower alcohol ensures impressive harmony in pithily structured, lively and profound wine.
4.5/5 stars Platter Wine Guide, wineonaplatter.com - wine tasted by Ingrid Motteux

This is the proof of how challenging environments can create exceptional wines. This home of scorpions is planted with Chenin Blanc and Palomino in limestone over a chalk aquifer. Over the 60 years since planting the roots have searched deep through this inhospitable soil searching for water to supplement the miserly 300mm they receive as rainfall annually. Mercifully the position, 2kms from the Atlantic coast, is cool making this this vine growing outpost viable.

Sadie Family’s Ouwingerdreeks (Old Vineyard Series) is a selection of parcels of old vines (some dating as far back as 1897) producing single-vineyard, single-varietal wines. Read our blog about Eben Sadie

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About this WINE

The Sadie Family Wines

The Sadie Family Wines

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 viticulturalist, 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).

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Swartland

Swartland

After Stellenbosch, the west coast district of Swartland (25 miles due north of Cape Town, between the towns of Malmesbury and Piketberg) now ranks as the Cape's most exciting wine-producing district.

Settled initially by nomadic Khoikhoi from Namibia, the Dutch brought trade and vines to the region in the 17th century. Viticulture was developed only more recently.

This contrasts with an ancient geology which has brought a mix of shale, arenite sandstone and granite soils air-conditioned by the Atlantic Ocean nearby.

Chenin Blanc and Shiraz seem to do best, as exemplified by the wines of Eben Sadie and Mullineux.

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Other Varieties

Other Varieties

There are over 200 different grape varieties used in modern wine making (from a total of over 1000). Most lesser known blends and varieties are traditional to specific parts of the world.

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