Eben Sadie

Assessing a Sadie Family Wines Old Vine Series Soldaat Vertical Ahead of the 2023 Judgement of Wimbledon Grenache Tasting…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 2 Comments

Sadie Family Wines are located in the Swartland region of South Africa and is without doubt one of South Africa’s most sought-after producers. But it wasn’t always like this. Before Eben Sadie settled down to carve out his career as a winemaker, he travelled and worked extensively in several major wine regions of the world, including Germany, Austria, Italy, Oregon and Burgundy. After returning to South Africa, he found employment alongside South African icon Charles Back, at The Spice Route in 1998. Sadie Family Wines, as we know it today, was founded in 1999, with the first two vintages produced at Charles Back’s Spice Route facilities.

While everything Eben puts his hand to nowadays becomes instantly collectable, his personal winemaking focus remains his signature wines, namely his white blend Palladius and his red Syrah based blend, Columella. But the fine wine world often has other designs, relentlessly craving his small production single vineyard wines made from some of South Africa’s oldest vineyards in the Cape. One of these, the Soldaat Old Vine Series, is made from ungrafted and unirrigated old bush vines that are planted at 708m altitude on decomposed granite soils on a 6-hectare site that Grenache shows such a great affinity for, and it really shows on this incredible wine. After manual harvesting, fermentation occurs spontaneously with indigenous yeasts. Maceration and fermentation is carried out in concrete tanks for 30 days and aging lasts on average 12 months in old oak barrels.

Sadie Family Wines Old Vine Series Soldaat Grenache 2012

Pronounced earthy, sappy, green leaf style with notes of dried herbs, fynbos, sandalwood and leafy red currant tangy berry fruits. The acids are electric, cool and glassy. Just a measured amount of tertiary complexity developing. 92/100? (95/100 Jan 2023 Tasting)

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Note: In the original vertical tasting, this wine seemed more evolved and savoury, but on tasting again in January 2023 from a different batch, the wine positively radiated energy and freshness, implying that the 2012 bottle initially assessed was perhaps not in top condition. Even my note on this wine in 2016 said… “you best bury a few bottles away if you have any left! (Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW) – This could potentially be a 95, 96, 97 point classic one day when it nears maturity. Yes, it’s that good!”

Sadie Family Wines Old Vine Series Soldaat Grenache 2016

Lovely warming nose of strawberry jam on warm scones, crushed gravel and sweet fynbos herbal notes before bramble berry fruits with a distinct savoury, meaty finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sadie Family Wines Old Vine Series Soldaat Grenache 2017

Definite note of reduction evident with hints of wet slate, crushed chalk, black currant, oyster shell and bramble berry spice. The palate is taut and compact, sappy and intense with a creamy textural balance and a herby, brambly, savoury finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sadie Family Wines Old Vine Series Soldaat Grenache 2018

Lovely bright red fruited nose with red currant, crushed strawberry and bramble berry spice. Palate is glycerol, dense and super serious with stony tannins, graphite spice and a savoury red berry finish.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sadie Family Wines Old Vine Series Soldaat Grenache 2019

Offers a beautiful melange of fynbos, crushed granite, dried herbs and red currant spice. Plush, opulent and seductive, this is a very impressive wine with superb power, precision and balance.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sadie Family Wines Old Vine Series Soldaat Grenache 2020

Dense, bright, pure red fruited nose with delicious creamy depth, layers of red currant, strawberry and seductive red cherry fruit together with a complexing sapidity, tobacco leaf and a stony minerality. Beautiful harmony, seamless balance, and a long, pristine finish. Wow!

(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Wines are available on strict allocation to the trade in the USA from Broadbent Selections and in the UK from FMV. Retail is circa £50 per bottle on release.

Eben Sadie Delivers a Columella and Palladius Masterclass in London in His First Visit for Several Years…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 2 Comments

Earlier this year, Eben Sadie made his first trip to London in several years and with so any new projects and developments taking place in the world of Sadie Family Wines, a visit to explain all the exciting new developments was considered long overdue. With Eben producing the most sought-after selection of red and white wines in South Africa, every change he makes in the winery or in the vineyards is closely watched and examined.

Starting in the early 2000s, Eben started to strive to improve the freshness on all his whites and reds with the effects of climate change becoming more and more apparent vintage after vintage. Over the past years, Eben has planted a range of esoteric white and red grapes, many with their origin around the Mediterranean – Agiorgitiko, Mencia, Cinsault Blanc, Grillo, Assyrtiko, Picpoul de Pinet, Trincadeira, Alicante Bouchet, Cunoise, Mavrotragano, etc. all on specially chosen sites with suitable soil types that allow the grapes to express freshness, brightness and elegance.

Following a policy of only making large scale changes once every 10 years, Eben firmly believes that what needs to be learnt takes time even if the actions you took and the changes you made end up ultimately being unsuccessful. The wines tasted in this masterclass reflect the learning and changes that have occurred at Sadie Family Wines over the past 20 years. To complement this fascinating masterclass, I followed it up with a visit to the winery in October to see some of the new developments first hand.

Eben Sadie surveying the new wine cellar building works.

Walking through the newly acquired old vine Rotsbank Chenin Blanc vineyard.

Top of the “to do list” was visiting the Rotsbank Old Vine Chenin Blanc vineyard that Sadie Family Wines recently acquired. This vineyard previously supplied some Chenin Blanc for blending into the Palladius, but following the purchase, Eben will release his first new Old Vine Series wine in 13 years and also his first single varietal Swartland Old Vine Chenin Blanc with the 2022 vintage. Also on display, were the extensive building works which mark the building of a new winemaking facility and archive cellar on the farm. So plenty to look forward to!

Columella Vertical: 2004 to 2018

Sadie Family Wines Columella 2004, WO Swartland

A beautifully cool, precise year that is an exceptional vintage for the wine but with Eben giving most of the credit to vintage conditions – “they merely didn’t mess it up in the winery, preserving the greatness of the vintage”. Wonderfully pure and perfumed with potpourri, garrigue, bramble berry spice and cured meats. The tannins are polished and silky, precise and pin point with fabulous mineral layering supported by bright tangy, crunchy acids with just the most subtle, reductive, saline cassis nuance on the finish. A supremely classy, classical expression.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sadie Family Wines Columella 2007, WO Swartland

A warm, dry vintage that led to many vines shutting down and thus offering long hang times on paper but with out the corresponding ripening. So a difficult vintage known for its pyrazines, especially on the whites. The nose shows rich, plumy, earthy characters with cured meats, black olive, plum compote and hints of tannery leather. The tannins are sweet and plush, creamy and opulent with a fine line of acidity wrapped in voluptuous layers of sweet red and black berry fruits. An impressive offering for the vintage and drinking beautifully at the moment.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sadie Family Wines Columella 2010, WO Swartland

Semi-warm vintage, less warm and dry than 2007. The aromatics are earthy and savoury with plenty of tannery leather, tilled earthy, stewed plums and spicy grilled herb notes. The palate shows a stony minerality together with a more restrained fruit depth, spicy graphite, bramble berry and pithy black currant. Tannins are soft and quite polished, finishing with a subtlety and elegance. A fascinating, mineral driven expression.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Pre-Masterclass interview with Jancis Robinson OBE MW.

Sadie Family Wines Columella 2018, WO Swartland

The end of the drought vintages, this shows an incredibly old world, Rhone style aromatics with savoury black fruits, garrigue, grilled herbs, black currant, black cherry, raspberry compote, and a meaty, chargrilled component. The palate shows a delicious crunchy, raspberry fruited vibrancy with hints of red bramble berries, wild strawberry and red cherries combined with a beautifully precise fresh acidity, impressive fine grained tannins and a wonderfully elegant, harmonious, poised finish. Very classy indeed.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Palladius Vertical: 2007 to 2019

Sadie Family Wines Palladius 2007, WO Swartland

Dry and hot vintage, the aromatics show a defined, honied yellow fruited oxidative complexity with layers of grapefruit jam, melted honey on buttered white toast. Massive glycerol texture with oxy fig and caramelised peach nuances, tangy acids and a deliciously exotic, saline, tropical finish. Offers a lot of wine and leaves it out there for all to see, leaving little to the imagination.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sadie Family Wines Palladius 2010, WO Swartland

Warm vintage again, the 2010 shows almost like a white Tondonia from Rioja with oxy yellow peach and condensed milk notes, tart tatin, and caramelised apples. The texture is creamy and dense, plush and opulent wth peach stone fruit, bruised yellow orchard fruits and a lactic, oaky, vanilla pod finish. But it’s ever so funky, luscious and delicious.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sadie Family Wines Palladius 2016, WO Swartland

The second very hot and dry vintage for the Cape, yet miraculously, many of the Chenin Blanc based blends defied the conditions to produced superb wines. A lot earthier and honied showing savoury characteristics with a much more aromatic, phenolic expression. But fabulously glycerol and balanced, seamless and focused with finely intertwined acids. Really delicious now. A triumphant wine.

(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Sadie Family Wines Palladius 2019, WO Swartland

The vineyards and blend reach a nice equilibrium in this vintage. The aromatics are pure and pinpoint with a pronounced pithy, mineral, crushed granite dust on the nose, intertwined with pithy yellow orchard fruits. The texture boasts great intensity along with harmonious balance and an ever present power. Hints of peach pastille and green apple cordial carry the full, textural palate weight effortlessly to a long and incredibly harmonious finish. Really impressive vinous architecture on display here.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Wine Safari Cellar Notes – Revisiting the Sadie Family Old Vine Series Skurfberg Chenin Blanc 2012…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ 1 Comment

I recently watched another zoom interview with Eben Sadie after his new 2019 vintage releases and it became crystal clear that he has now officially joined the exclusive global ranks of iconic wine producers who don’t actually have to “sell” their wines but merely allocate them on a spreadsheet, thus joining the likes of Coche-Dury, Romanee Conti, JL Chave, Thierry Allemande etc., as one of the most sought after producers in the world.

But with this fame comes the added clamour from customers to drink his wines on release, highlighting and indeed exacerbating one of Eben’s greatest disappointments – that not enough people cellar his wines long enough to allow them to reach their true drinking potential. So, with the recent 2019 Skurfberg Chenin Blanc garnering a lofty 100 points from Tim Atkin MW in his recent South Africa 2020 report, I thought I’d revisit an older vintage of this iconic wine to check on its evolution.

Made from unirrigated parcels of old bush vines planted between 1940 and 1955 on decomposed sandstone in the Oliphants River Region, these knarled dry grown old vines struggle to survive with only the sparse local rainfall to rely on. But it is precisely this struggle that makes these old vines produce such sumptuously expressive grapes. So if you have the ability to cellar any wines, save some of your allocation and follow Eben’s advice.

Sadie Family Wines Old Vine Series Skurfberg Chenin Blanc 2012, WO Olifantsrivier, 14.5% Abv.

Drunk over 3 nights, just incredible to see this wine slowly unwind and unfurl over time. At its height of expressiveness, the bouquet positively bursts forth with lemon and lime marmalade, tangerine peel zest, pressed oranges, sweet dried herbs, honeysuckle, nougat and a fantastically expressive granitic mineral under vein. The breadth, depth and complexity of flavour on the palate is just mind boggling, with multiple layers of lime preserve, caramelised figs, grapefruit jelly and an intense finish of lemon cream biscuits and spicy, pithy gravelly minerality punctuated by a final zippy acid reprise. A wine that encapsulates perfectly why Eben Sadie’s wines are so sought after the world over! Start drinking this one now but certainly no rush. A true white icon wine for a new generation of drinkers.

(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Tasting the Ultimate Unicorn Pinotage Reds from Emul Ross and Eben Sadie…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been involved with the activities of the Cape Wine Auction Charity on and off since it’s first auction seven years ago. In 2020, I was very privileged to be invited to be their Honorary Global Fine Wine Ambassador and attend this special event that helped raise over R17 million rand for 25 well deserving wine land children’s charities, but which also crucially, took the seven year total raised to over R100 million to date! (£5.1m)

A brace of Pinotage unicorn wines.

One of the lots sold at last years auction in 2019 was an uber rare lot comprising of two barrels worth of Pinotage, one made by Hamilton Russell winemaker Emul Ross from Ashbourne Winery fruit and the other made by Swartland rock star Eben Sadie with fruit from the same vineyard at Ashbourne. Each wine was vinified in their own home cellars without the two winemakers liaising or comparing notes. In fact, after harvest, the first time the two spoke together again was around two months later and neither tasted the others wine until the actual day of the auction.

Emul pointing to the thin wedge shaped vineyard that provided the grapes.

The two barrel auction lot was bottled and labelled and offered exclusively at the 2019 Cape Wine Auction, which in the end, after frenzied bidding, raised £1m Rand and was divided between four bidding parties, with each paying R250,000 for just over 150 bottles, or just under R2000 per bottle.

The Ashbourne barrel.

Man & Soil Ashbourne Pinotage 2018, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 13.5 Abv.

Emul’s version obviously bears a great resemblance to the flagship Ashbourne Estate Pinotage that he also makes. Wonderfully bright, pure fruited and crunchy on the nose, one anticipates vibrancy and vigour to follow on the palate and you’re not disappointed. There are expressive notes of black and red cherry, damson plum, wet leaves and tart black bramble berry fruits. The palate shows incredible freshness and energy with tart crisp acids framing pure notes of raspberry, blueberry and mineral laden earthy black plum. The oak is almost imperceptible allowing the wine to confidently boast its finest fruit and mineral characteristics. Very impressive.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Sadie Family barrel.

Man & Soil Sadie Family Wines Pinotage 2018, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 13.5 Abv.

Incredibly, this wine shows an earthy musky Swartland perfume and fragrance that is certainly not just in my subconscious. There are seductive notes of fresh potpourri, crushed rose petals, Jasmin and Iris blossom melting into sun raisined cranberry, damson plum and pink musk complexity. The palate shows a softer, rounder, riper more generous fleshy accessibility that reaches all corners of the mouth and washes over the tastebuds in waves of sweet earthy savoury black plums, loganberry and earthy red currant complexity. Plush and seductive without lacking any structure, this wine exhibits all the fabulous Sadie X factor that has made his other wines so famous!

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

None of these bottles are commercially available and therefore register pretty high up on the ultimate unicorn wine list. The fact they are such high quality but also age worthy and made by two of South Africa’s best winemakers seals their legendary cult status. A real privilege to drink these two bottles with Emul and friends a few hundred meters from the vineyard itself!

Tasting the Sadie Family Wines Old Vine Series Treinspoor 2018 Tinta Barocca…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Made from 44 year old Tinta Barocca sourced from a vineyard in the Swartland planted in 1974, the new 2018 Treinspoor release appears to have found yet another gear of superior quality not often seen with this variety in South Africa.

 

Reading my back notes on previous vintages for Treinspoor, I noted my own enthusiastic score for the 2016 while Eben Sadie regarded the 2015 as one of his finest expressions. This 2018 certainly has an elegance and sophistication I’ve not seen on any Tinta Barocca reds from South Africa before. Chatting to Eben about Tinta Barocca in the past, he always says he feels that this red grape Tinta Barocca “might well transport the Swartland terroir best into liquid form, purely because it captures the soils and the earthiness of the place.” 

Sadie Family Wines Old Vine Series Treinspoor 2018, Swartland, 13 Abv.

This 2018 aged in old foudres really is a delicious, supremely impressive rendition of one of the slightly less acclaimed reds in the Old Vine Series wine range. Possibly the most seductive vintage produced to date, this incredible Swartland Tinta Barocca boasts a wonderfully perfumed nose of fresh lavender, incense, fynbos and garrigue over a plush aromatic melange of blueberry reduction, black cherry and wood smoked dried herbs. The palate is cool, complex and compact with a fine soft fleshy black berry concentration that shows hints of Parma violet rock candy, grape jelly, pink musk, granitic minerality and finely textured chalky tannins. But it’s the overall harmonious balance paired with a regal intensity and freshness that just possibly elevates this 2018 expression to the finest Treinspoor Eben Sadie has produced so far. A very impressive wine indeed!

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

The Fine Wine Safari’s Top 10 Most Memorable “Off-Piste” Red Wines of the Year 2018…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The Fine Wine Safari Top 10 Red Wines of the Year was a modest attempt to illustrate South Africa’s finest benchmark wines and styles for all to see and to give international collectors and drinkers a handful of names and labels to look out for. However, one of the absolute cornerstones of the recent global success of the South African wine category has been its incredible diversity and in many cases it’s inspired eccentricity combined with outright quality.

So in an attempt to show the more experimental and alternative “off-piste” face of South African wine, I have enjoyed compiling my Top 10 list of most memorable reds, truly outstanding wines produced by producers that do not necessarily aspire to 100 point ratings or mass market appeal. Nevertheless, these wines are all more than worthy of a slot in your cellar!

Sadie Family Old Vine Series Treinspoor 2017, Swartland

Franco Lourens Howard John Red Blend 2017, WO Western Cape

David & Nadia Pinotage 2017, Swartland

Fram Grenache Gris 2017, Swartland

Kleine Zalze Amphora Grenache 2017

Craven Wines Cinsault 2017, Stellenbosch

Restless River Wanderlust Grenache 2017, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley

Scions of Sinai Feniks Pinotage 2017, Stellenbosch

Sutherland Petit Verdot Reserve 2015, Elgin

Welbedacht Estate Patriot Cape Blend 2014, Wellington

The Fine Wine Safari Top 10 South African White Wines of the Year 2018…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

What a fabulous year for South African wine it has been! Of course for many 2018 was extra special because a lot of people who may not normally go to South Africa regularly made the pilgrimage down to Cape Wine 2018 in September. Personally, I made four separate visits to South Africa this year including a mammoth 10 day mega session that covered both the Nederburg Auction and the entire week of the Cape Wine trade fair.

— 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁 …. drum roll ….

So for 2018, my Top 10 South African White Wines of the Year are as follows:

Alheit Family Wines Huilkrans Chenin Blanc 2017, Swartland – 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Sadie Family Wines Old Vines Series ‘T Voetpad 2017, Swartland – 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Lukas Van Loggerenberg Kameraderie Chenin Blanc 2017 – 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Sadie Family Wines Palladius White Blend 2016, Swartland – 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Alheit Family Wines Magnetic North Chenin Blanc 2017, Skurfberg – 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

David & Nadia Hoe Steen Chenin Blanc 2017, Swartland – 96+/100 GregSherwood MW

Mullineux & Leeu Family Wines Radicales Libres White Blend 2012, Swartland – 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Restless River Ava Maria Chardonnay 2016, Hemel-en-Aarde Valley – 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Naude Family Wines Old Vines Semillon 2016, Western Cape – 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW

Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2015, Constantia – 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW

A huge heartfelt congratulations to all the distinguished producers who made my Top 10 Whites this year. Merry Christmas! 🎄🍷

Coming up next before the New Year… the ultimate Fine Wine Safari Top 10 South African Red Wines of the Year 2018. Definitely not to be missed!

The Old Vine Project Hits London Again to Seduce Us with Some Profound Old Vine Whites and Reds from South Africa…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

I’m very excited to be attending the Alheit Family Wines new release 2017 tasting tomorrow in London at the offices of the Institute of Masters of Wine with Chris Alheit. Indeed it was Rosa Kruger and Andre Morgenthal’s recent Old Vines Project Masterclass Tasting a few weeks ago that reignited the excitement surrounding old vines, old vine culture and the changes in philosophy with regards to viticulture and vine growing taking place in South Africa.

A pair of Chris Alheit’s superb 2017 wines featured prominently on the July tasting and certainly helped set the scene for yet another SA tasting of old vine wines that promises to display some of the most exciting dry Chenin Blanc’s produced anywhere in the world. Just reading through the below Old Vine Masterclass tasting notes has already got me salivating.

Below are my raw notes taken from the Masterclass with Andre and Rosa.

Old Vine Project team Andre Morgenthal and Rosa Kruger in front of London’s Millennium Bridge.

Huis van Chevallerie Filia Brut Kap Klassiek 2014, Swartland – Vines Planted 1974

Savoury apple purée, honey and sun dried peaches, vermouth botanicals and sweet fynbos herby spice. Beautiful richness, peachy, leesy autolysis and a gravelly, mineral length.

(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Huis van Chevallerie Nuwedam Chenin Blanc 2017, Swartland – Vines Planted 1974

Rich, deep, earthy, mealy character, hairy yellow peaches, honey, lanolin, peach purée and a solid vein of gravelly, granitic minerality. Creamy and texturally very fine showing piercing white citrus and crunchy yellow fruit intensity, white peach pastille and a kiss of pineapple. Very impressive.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Waterford Estate Library Collection Chenin Blanc 2017, Stellenbosch – Vines Planted 1982

Beautifully nuanced nose with pronounced minerality, dusty granite and limestone, where the fruit component of the wine takes a back seat to the terroir minerality. Hints of struck match and tart fresh acids give way to lemon and lime pith, flinty white peaches and savoury pineapple. A really excellent expression.

(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Gabrielskloof Elodie Chenin Blanc 2016, Swartland – Vines Planted 1977

Rich perfumed nose showing soap stone, white citrus, green apple zest, creamy white peach and liquid minerality. Beautifully textured palate, complex and very harmonious. Very classy indeed.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Alheit family Huilkrans Chenin Blanc 2017, Swartland – Vines Planted 1976 and 1986

Wonderful melange of pure mineral, granite, grated apple, white peach and crunchy green pear with hints of orange blossom, tangerine and dried herb spice. Incredible harmony and balance, precise textural focus, sleek concentration and liquid mineral depth. A thought provoking wine, confounding the senses, stimulating the palate. Grand Cru texture, focus and precision.

(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Cartology Chenin Blanc / Semillon Blend, WO Western Cape 2017 – Vines aged between 32 and 82 years old from multiple plots, mostly 40 years old

Big, broad expansive yellow orchard fruit aromatics, subtle yellow blossom and then an overriding dusty gravel quarry minerality. The palate shows amazing depth, typical Alheit pineapple fruit pastille concentration, lemon grass and an incredible saline, grassy, herbal pithy length. Another epic effort from Butch.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Alheit Fire By Night 2017, Swartland, 13 Abv. – Vines planted in 1938, 1940 and 1944

Bright, crystalline and intense, wonderfully taut and intense, loaded with liquid minerals, limestone and green gauge, green apple and white pears. Pithy phenolic notes, spicy, pear purée expression and such clarity and focus. Mouth watering acidity, this wine tells an amazing story and delivers on so many levels with subtlety.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

David & Nadia Perdekamp Semillon 2014, Swartland – Vines Planted 1972

Dusty granitic mineral aromatics, powdered sandstone, white citrus, white pepper and hints of orange blossom. So textural, intense and expertly finessed into a really profound version of Semillon.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Boekenhoutskloof Semillon 2005, Franschhoek – Vines Planted in 1902, 1936 and 1942

Complex aromatics reveal notes of capsicum, white citrus and chalky granitic herbal green spice aromatics. Plenty of honied lemon, herbal fynbos notes and subtle oxidative, honied, lanolin length. Very expressive and complex.

(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Boekenhoutskloof Semillon 2015, Franschhoek – Vines Planted in 1902, 1936 and 1942

Crunchy white peaches, citrus, crushed gravel and white pepper dominate the nose. Palate is packed full of lime peel complexity, vibrant bright acids, textural linearity and a long, wonderfully focused finish. Exceptional.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Mullineux & Leeu Dry Red 2015, WO Western Cape – Vines planted in 1932 and 1900

Lovely peppery, spicy leafy nose of plum, peppercorns, sweet bramble berries, hedgerow, bergamot and sappy cherry spice. There’s a real opulent confit fruit character, impressive ripeness, fragrant but simultaneously mineral and restrained. There is also a real dusty granitic vein, a chalky, spicy texture and sweet red currant and raspberry sappy fruit. Punchy, intense, really focused but with real mouthwatering drinkability. Beautifully fine harmonious texture, and tight polished tannins. A very classy wine indeed.

(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Naude Cinsault 2015, Darling – Vines Planted 1980

Wonderfully open, fragrant and exotic nose showing salted cherries, rose petals, lychees and Turkish delight. Palate is incredibly sleek and creamy but impressively intense and focused. Delicious palate complexity of waxy orange peel, naartjie juice and earthy sappy cranberry sauce. Such a very pretty expression.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Jamie Goode tasting with Rosa Kruger at the Old Vine Project Masterclass held at High Timber Restaurant in July 2018.

Reacquainting Myself with the Sadie Family Old Vine Series Skerpioen 2016 White Ahead of the 2017 Launch…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

The Skerpioen white from Eben Sadie is a field blend of interplanted Chenin Blanc and Palomino vines. These unirrigated old bush vines were planted between the years 1958 to 1967 in extremely chalky soils in one of the coolest locations in the Swartland.

Of all Eben Sadie’s Old Vine Series wines, the Skerpioen white is perhaps the most intriguing, slightly austere in youth, this wine is mineral driven and restrained and often takes a few years to open its shoulders and show it’s hidden depths.

As Christian Eedes from South Africa’s Wine Magazine comments…. “a perplexing wine…” with a minerality and austerity that is often “mesmerising”. Sums this wine up poignantly.

Sadie Family Old Vines Series Skerpioen 2016, WO Swartland, 13.5 Abv.

It’s hard not to approach this wine without preconceptions! I was excited just uncorking the wine. But Skerpioen is always a complex and complicated wine to understand and whenever you open a bottle, you never quite know what mood it is going to be in, a little bit like drinking top red Burgundy. The second of the hot, drought vintages, the 2016 is showing a lot more expressive complexity than when I first tasted this wine on release. It still has a pithy nose of lime peel, lemon grass, apple, dried herbs, talc and dusty granite. A little extra time in bottle has allowed this wine to develop subtle notes of white peach, orange blossom, white pear and an alluring grilled herbs and pork fat complexity. Fleshy and textural with perhaps not quite the same depth, power and intensity of the 2015, this wine remains a very finely poised, beautifully balanced and thoroughly delicious release from Eben Sadie. Start drinking now, but no rush as this will evolve for another 10+ years.

(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

Laura Lorenzo and Daterra Viticultores Creating Breath-Taking Wines in the Val do Bibei, North West Spain…

~ Greg Sherwood MW ~ Leave a comment

Hailing from Allariz in the province of Ourense, Laura Lorenzo enrolled in the local enology school at the tender age of 16 with definite ambition to become a winemaker. Upon graduation, she worked at the nearby Adega Cachín, and then overseas with Eben Sadie in South Africa and Achaval Ferrer in Argentina. After her various apprenticeships, Laura took over the reins at Dominio do Bibei, a dynamic, pioneering producer of fine wine in the Quiroga-Bibei subzone of Ribeira Sacra.

Laura worked there for 10 years developing an attractive style of winemaking that was fine-tuned and focused on the hillsides of the region, specifically to the terruño around the village of Manzaneda. In 2014 Laura and her partner, chef & artist partner Alvaro Dominguez, branched out on their own and formed Daterra Viticultores to cultivate the mountainside vineyards of the Bibei Valley.

Gavela da Vila is comprised of 100% old vine Palomino organically farmed at a variety of elevations, expositions, and soil types in the Val do Bibei. 90% of the grapes were destemmed, with the must seeing just a few hours of skin contact before pressing.

The wine was fermented with wild yeast in used 225 liter French oak barrels, and then raised on the lees in the same barrels for 6 months. Small amounts of sulfur were added after fermentation and at bottling. The wine was not clarified, cold stabilized or filtered.

Daterra Viticultores Gavela da Vila Palomino 2015, Manzaneda, Val do Bibei, 12.5 Abv.

A bright pale gold straw colour, there are plenty of tell tale signs of the wine’s short skin contact. The nose is rich and very expressive with complex notes of savoury pithy yellow citrus, yellow blossom, hazelnut and walnuts, dried orange peel and the most seductive saline, baked apple, aldehydic and oxidative Sherry-Manzanilla notes. The palate entry is electric and vibrant challenging the palate and provoking thought, but most certainly makes your mouth salivate with a saline briney zest, fresh zippy acids and a delicious spicy oxidative leaning yellow fruited finish laced with baked pears and vermouth spices. A really tantalising effort from an incredible new talent in Spain. Only 1,590 bottles produced. Drink now to 2026+.

(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)