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 | 2022 Rotsbank - Sadie Family Wines | € 64,44 (€ 77,97) |
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IN DE PERS 97 Anthony Mueller - robertparker.com (December 2023) New this year, the 2022 Old Vine Series Rotsbank made from Chenin Blanc offers a saline nose with ripe and nutty citrus blossom essences. Rotsbank, meaning “rock shelf” or “rock bench,” comes from a vineyard with very shallow soil. Light to medium-bodied, the palate is incredibly fresh with layers of complexity and is intensely cerebral. It will notably be an outlier of the Chenin Blanc range, offering the most mineral tension and expressive mouthfeel before it concludes with an almost neverending finish. Just under 7,000 bottles were filled. Keep an eye out for this beauty! Drink 2023-2042. 96 Neal Martin - vinous.com (Augustus 2023) The 2022 Rotsbank is pure Chenin Blanc from Swartland that Sadie told me he had waited 14 years to make. The 39-year-old vines grow on a shallow blue granite shelf. It is whole bunch pressed and aged in old foudres. It has a penetrating granitic nose, a touch of Crustacea, and is very well-defined wing a hint of green olive. The palate is supremely well-balanced, taut and vibrant, with real depth and a tingle of white pepper on the finish. This is a brilliant new addition to Sadie’s Old Vine Series. Drink 2025-2048. 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 Chenon 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 This 2022 Rotsbank bottling displays flinty, almost crushed eggshell aromas with grapefruit and more tropical aspects once the initial minerality of the site gave way in the aromas. The wine is incredibly concentrated on the aromatics; the same concentration follows through on the palate. The tannins have massive tension, and the wine’s substantial acidity and dry finish suggest a wine that will only benefit much from time in the bottle. This very restrained and firm wine will pair exceptionally well with shellfish. 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 – pressing warm grapes comes with its 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. AGEING | The wine is left in a cask on the fermentation lees for the first 12 months, and we bottle from the lees. Only about 60ppm of sulphur is added two weeks before bottling. NOTES | The Rotsbank vineyard is located in the Paardeberg in the Aprilskloof on a rock shelf that barely has 30 – 50 cm of soil in most parts. It is incredible to think that this vineyard survives year after year. Many of the roots in the soil have found cracks in this rock shelf, and the limited natural growth of this vineyard makes for incredibly concentrated fruit. Since 2008 we have wanted to produce a Swartland Chenin Blanc, but the 2022 vintage materialised as the first after we were very fortunate to purchase the vineyard. Swartland Paardeberg / Chenin Blanc or Steen / 12 months in foudre / Decomposed granite on a shallow granite shelf 32hl/ha / 13,01%vol / 1,5g/l / pH 3,29 / TA 6,1g/l / Total Sulphur 86mg/l ROTSBANK The old Chenin Blanc parcel Rotsbank we acquired in 2021 will be released in July. It will be our first release of a new vineyard in over a decade, and the wine is set to become part of the old vineyards we bottle from different districts. We have always maintained that we would only bottle a Swartland Chenin if it could be from this vineyard, and it might have been a long fourteen years of waiting to get our hands on this vineyard, but it was simply worth it in every respect. The vineyard is planted on a very shallow rock shelf, “Rotsbank”, hence the name, and this leads to minimal growth for the vines as the topsoil is exceptionally shallow. The reserves are always minimal, and the general shoot length and bunch sizes are much more reduced than in the surrounding Chenin vineyards. The wine from this vineyard has excellent acidity, mineral earth textures, and firm texture and tannins, all the qualities of a great site. We have spent much time and capital over the past three seasons to elevate this vineyard to the highest level, and within a year or two, we expect an even greater response from the soils. We have been filling this vineyard’s shallowest and most restrained part with plenty of compost, which currently has an excellent equilibrium. Travelling from Mev. Kirsten to Rotsbank to Skurfberg, there is a fantastic South-to-North geographical expression of Chenin, with all being made precisely the same, the different terroirs manifest, and it is a remarkable journey in Chenin expressions. 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||