2009 Eben Sadie, Sequillo, Syrah/Mourvèdre/Grenache, Swartland

2009 Eben Sadie, Sequillo, Syrah/Mourvèdre/Grenache, Swartland

Product: 8616
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2009 Eben Sadie, Sequillo, Syrah/Mourvèdre/Grenache, Swartland

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Description

The exceptionally talented Eben Sadie is one of the pioneers of the Swartland, and here is a quite brilliant example of why this part of the Cape is causing such a fuss. Power meets elegance in a Rhône-style red blend that matches vividly aromatic forest fruit with a touch of black pepper and exhilarating freshness.
David Williams, The Guardian, 29/01/2012

Another brilliant wine from Eben Sadie which not only reveals his huge wine-making talent but also his perpetual willingness to experiment. Eben believes that South Africa is ideally suited to Mediterranean grape varieties rather than the more commonly planted Bordeaux varietals, especially in his native terroir of Swartland, and this wine bears eloquent testimony to his belief. In the past it has been a blend of Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache, but in 2009 he has added Carignan and Cinsault, stalwarts of the Midi in France. The nose shows a spicy, peppery black fruit character , while on the palate the two new additional varietals come into their own with lovely purity of red fruits and a pronounced freshness and lift.

Despite ageing for 24 months in wood there is little overt evidence of oak as the barrels are large 500-litre casks, not new, and with yields at a miserly 22 hectolitres per hectare the wine is quite full-bodied but remains elegant, with a long, fine finish.

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About this WINE

Southern Rhône Blend

Southern Rhône Blend

The vast majority of wines from the Southern Rhône are blends. There are 5 main black varieties, although others are used and the most famous wine of the region, Châteauneuf du Pape, can be made from as many as 13 different varieties. Grenache is the most important grape in the southern Rhône - it contributes alcohol, warmth and gentle juicy fruit and is an ideal base wine in the blend. Plantings of Syrah in the southern Rhône have risen dramatically in the last decade and it is an increasingly important component in blends. It rarely attains the heights that it does in the North but adds colour, backbone, tannins and soft ripe fruit to the blend.

The much-maligned Carignan has been on the retreat recently but is still included in many blends - the best old vines can add colour, body and spicy fruits. Cinsault is also backtracking but, if yields are restricted, can produce moderately well-coloured wines adding pleasant-light fruit to red and rosé blends. Finally, Mourvèdre, a grape from Bandol on the Mediterranean coast, has recently become an increasingly significant component of Southern Rhône blends - it often struggles to ripen fully but can add acidity, ripe spicy berry fruits and hints of tobacco to blends.

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