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 | 2022 Skerpioen - Sadie Family Wines | € 54,38 (€ 65,80) |
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IN DE PERS 96 Anthony Mueller - robertparker.com (December 2023) Made from Chenin Blanc and Palomino, the 2022 Old Vine Series Skerpioen displays aromas of wax melon with hints of sea spray and lemon skin before offering a dusty floral essence. Medium-bodied and with excellent mineral tension, the palate bursts to life with energetic acidity, showing layers of freshness and complexity before ending with a lively, food-friendly finish. Only 7,400 bottles were produced of this gorgeous wine. Drink 2023-2037. 92 Neal Martin - vinous.com (Augustus 2023) The 2022 Skerpioen is a blend of Chenin Blanc and Palomino cultivated on limestone soils, whole bunch pressed directly into old foudres. It has a touch of walnut and smoke on the nose, just a slight flor-like note. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, very saline compared to its peers, with grapefruit and lemon rind touches. Taut and linear, it's a wine that I would afford three of four years in bottle. Drink 2024-2038. No trip to the Cape would be complete without visiting Eben Sadie in Swartland. Before we tasted his 2022s, Sadie gave me a tour of his impressive new winery under construction. One thing that he or his sons, who are taking an increasing active role in the running, will be short of in the future is space. « The 2022 was a difficult vintage on paper, » Sadie explains. « All the rain fell to the South of Swartland, and so we had a hangover of drought. We didn’t have a good winter. Just after flowering, after fruit set, we reduced our crop by half, taking it down one bunch per shoot, and we thinned tje shoots right down to maintain a conservative canopy management. It’s one of the benefits of having a fixed team of 26 people. Also, we have had the lowest alcohol levels ever, bringing in the fruit below 13,5% potential alcohol. I’m fascinated by the 2022’s because they are way better than Thought they would be. It’s a radical and expensive vintage for us because we bottled very little. It’s been a revelation. It will be interesting to see if we can have the same levels of alcohol in a wetter year. We’ll do some trials to see if it is possible. » This is a brilliant range of 2022s under his Old Vine Series umbrella that includes one new cuvée, a pure Chenin Blanc from Swartland named Rotsbank that Sadie told me he had waited 14 years make. The 2022 Skurfberg might well constitute the vinous highlight of my trip, consistently ranking among his best wines. Maybe just the Kokerboom left me wanting more. The 2021 Columella, his blend of Rhône varieties now around two decades old is wonderful, less powerful than older vintages yet imbued with greater finesse and articulating its site with greater clarity. EBEN SADIE The 2022 Skerpioen enters the aromatics with volumes of fruit and limey, citrus and chamomile flowers. This wine’s distinctive saline qualities, salty taste, and minerality are again prominent. The salinity of this wine is a textbook aspect of the site and terroir of this vineyard. The tannins are firm, and the acidity is fresh, and we suggest rushing off to buy oysters! This wine is more assessable at an early stage than most of our other wines. VINIFICATION | After harvesting the grapes are placed in a cooling room to reduce the temperature, since the average temperatures are often 35 degrees or more – and pressing warm grapes comes with its own series of problems.We then do whole bunch pressing, a process that takes about 3 hours during which time there is a margin of settling of the juice in the collecting tank.The juice is then transferred to two old foudres for fermentation. The natural fermentation can sometimes take up to 5 days or more to start. The fermentation may continue from 1 to 6 months and sometimes it only finishes in the following spring, by which time the malolactic fermentation would often have come to completion as well. AGEING | The wine is left in cask on the fermentation lees for the entire first 12 months and we bottle from the lees. Only about 50ppm of sulphur is added 2 weeks prior to bottling. NOTES | Skerpioen (Scorpion) is a wine from a very unique location halfway between Dwarskersbos and Elands Bay on the West Coast. One of the most amazing aspects of this location is the fact that the soils are chalky (limestone). In addition to that it is one of the coolest parts of the Swartland region,located a mere 2km from theAtlantic Ocean,but it is also a very dry area with an average rainfall of around 300mm per year. This location is home to some of the most intense south-easterly winds and the old vines look almost abused after having been battered by winds and blowing sand for years and years. Swartland St Helena Bay / Chenin Blanc of Steen en Palomino or Vaalbaar / 12 months ageing in old Acacia and Oak foudres / Limestone base with pH up to 9 with sandy top layer. 28hl/ha / 13,4%vol / 2,1g/l / pH 3,26 / TA 6g/l / Total Sulphur 81mg/l Sadie Family WinesWinery of the Year - Platter’s South African Wine Guide 2015 SadieThe Swartland Independent Producers veranderen Zuid Afrika als wijnland. Hun pionier is één van de beste wijnmakers ter wereld (en een ervaren surfer) genaamd Eben Sadie. Hij wordt vereerd als National Treasure en gamechanger. Hij ontgint wonderlijke terroirs, herstelt verwaarloosde bushvines en leidt de avant-garde in doordachte wijnbouw en vinificatie. Zijn Columella en Palladius zijn de eerste Afrikaanse Grands Vins. Daarnaast biedt zijn iconische “Ouwingerdreeks” kleine loten eigenzinnige bewaarwijnen uit specifieke climats. Appreciëer deze boeiende en betekenisvolle wijnen zolang de voorraad strekt. 2017 Winemakers' Winemaker Award, Institute of Masters of Wine Jane Masters MW, chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine - Eben’s determined search to produce outstanding wines has put Swartland and South Africa on the map. I am delighted that the Master of Wine Winemakers have rewarded his dedication and talent – it’s truly well deserved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||