Producer | Sadie Family Wines |
Country | South Africa |
Region | Swartland |
Varietal | Cinsault |
Vintage | 2020 |
Sku | 167567 |
Size | 750ml |
For twenty years Eben Sadie has been working in South Africa’s rugged Swartland seeking to find isolated vineyards of old bush vines and unique terroirs from which he makes wines that are built to age. He came to Swartland in 1999 for its variety of soils and varied geology – chalk soils in some areas, granite, sandstone and alluvials elsewhere. Fairly warm and dry, the region lends itself to organic farming.
Sadie’s flagship wine is Columella, a syrah-based blend grown on slate, granite, sandstone and gravel first made in 2000. The quality of this wine continues to benefit from the experience gained over the 20 years of its production, reflecting the deeply research-based approach of the estate.
Several other bottlings are produced, including wines from Chenin Blanc, Semillon and co-fermented white field blends in addition to reds from Cinsault and Grenache among others. He is responding to the increasingly warmer climate by cultivating varietals that naturally do better in drier environments – such as the native grapes of Portugal, Sicily and southern Spain.
The estate has attracted a significant following not just for the extraordinary and relatively unknown terroirs from which the fruit is sourced but for the rigorous mindset of Eben Sadie himself. There is a strong pioneering spirit here. No compromises are made in the pursuit of making honest wines of quality.
Like Saldaat Pofadder was fermented with fewer whole bunches in 2020 givng the wine more fruit purity and focus. Beautifully framed and complete it's an old-vin Cinsault that combines focus with depth. Black cherry raspberry and sweet spice notes play out across the palate with a lovely stony understone. 2022-30
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taBeginning with a lighter and lifted nose the 2020 Old Vine Series Pofadder offers Pinot Noire-like aromas with hints of potpourri and red spice before ripe dusty cherry skin flows out of the glass with a kiss of green herbs. Medium-bodied the palate delivers a just-ripe fruit quality with flavors of tart cherries and wild strawberries and fine mineral tension. The wine has a balanced structure yet concludes with a slightly tannic and drying finish. Give it one more year of bottle age then drink through 2038.
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