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 | 2023 Skerpioen - Sadie Family Wines | € 61,37 (€ 74,26) |
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IN DE PERS 94 Neal Martin - vinous.com (September 2024) The 2023 Skerpioen is co-planted Chenin Blanc and Palomino on aeolian sand over limestone. Even Sadie remarked: "If Mad Max had a vineyard, this would be it." It's a very wind-buffeted five-hectare parcel, planted in 1910, with higgledy-piggledy branches (maybe the first time that's been used in a tasting note). This was the highest dry extract of Sadie's whites. It has a fresh and vibrant nose: linseed oil, hinst of yellow fruit and sea spray. The palate is founded upon a razor-sharp line of acidity, full of tension and salinity and very linear toward the finish. Divine. Drink 2025-2045. Last year, Eben Sadie walked me through his winery, which was basically just four walls and half a roof. Twelve months and a lot of sleepless nights later, the finishing touches are being applied. Wow, it’s impressive. Every last detail has been considered in terms of functionality, aesthetics and sustainability. In the upstairs tasting room, you find a fully-equipped kitchen that most restaurants can only dream about, though Sadie has no plans to open one. It’s for his workers. Indeed, he stressed the importance of hiring local skilled labor. Downstairs, I walked through the vat room that has a high-ceilinged, cathedral-like design. All that’s missing is a stained-glass window. In Bordeaux, this would not look out of place, but in Swartland, it is a statement that is a testament to everything Sadie has achieved. It is concurrent with a turning of the page as his two sons, Markus and Xander, take increasing roles in the estate’s running. The 2023s, the last to be vinified in the old cellar, were on show. I asked Sadie his views on the growing season. “We used to pick over two months, but we now pick over 4 to 5 weeks,” Sadie explained. “Everything got massively compressed, but the new cellar gives us a logistical advantage. The 2023 and 2024 vintages have been difficult because of that compression. We are struggling with an absence of proper spring. Our summers start late, and picking dates [for each of the vineyards around the Cape] are around the same time. So, there's three weeks less hang time that affects early ripening more than late-ripening grapes because the acid breaks down much quicker and can end up with 0.75% more alcohol unless you have no acid left. Potassium take-up in grapes is much greater, so since 2015, we have started de-stemming a lot more [since the stems hold potassium that reduces acidity]. Our major consideration is to be able to plant new varieties, and so we are interplanting around 15% of the area with varieties that have higher acid retention, such as Colombard, Petit Manseng and Grillo.” There is no point in analyzing every wine, as my euphoric tasting notes express how impressive his 2023 is. But I must mention the second vintage of his Chenin Blanc, the 2023 Rotsbank, which sent tingles down my spine with its nascent energy and complexity. Also, his white blend Palladius, the 2022 vintage, is the wine that Eben said he had always wanted to make and certainly the best that I have tasted. 94 Monica Larner - robertparker.com (Juni 2025) The Sadie Family's 2023 Swartland Old Vine Series Skerpioen is Chenin Blanc and Palomino planted together on white limestone soils with a sandy top layer. The Chenin Blanc is picked on the underripe side, and the Palomino is picked ripe and golden yellow in color. "I am site-driven, not variety-driven," says Winemaker Eben Sadie. "My goal is to make the most honest wine from a singular site." I love the intensity of the Skerpioen, which is delivered vertically in terms of the brightness of its aromas and horizontally in terms of the pretty richness of the mouthfeel. There are hints of waxy Meyer lemon, sea salt and a hint of rubber latex. It matures in old acacia and oak foudre for 12 months. Drink 2025-2038. Founded in 1999 by Eben Sadie, The Sadie Family estate in the Swartland is celebrated across the world for its commitment to terroir-driven wines made with minimal intervention. Eben Sadie is a pioneer in organic and biodynamic farming across different soils, including granite, slate, alluvial and weathered sandstone. "The geological pull is what brought me here," says Eben Sadie, who works with 38 varieties (experimental and non) across 54 vineyard sites. I visited The Sadie Family twice last year. On my first visit in January, a large off-the-grid winery was under the last phase of construction. On my second visit in October, I saw the finished results. The two flagship wines are the red blend Columella and the white blend Palladius. The portfolio includes world-class expressions (with some of the best Chenin Blanc made anywhere) in the Old Vine Series. Eben Sadie does not care for trellised vines. "We need to scale away from the sun, not toward it," he says. The goblet system is the world's oldest training system, going back 7,000 or 8,000 years, he explains, and suddenly trellising was introduced a mere 140 years ago. Vertical shoot positioning (or VSP) attracts more solar radiation, he says. The Sadie Family is a Robert Parker Wine Advocate Green Emblem recipient (since 2021) for its commitment to sustainability and its environmental stewardship. The winemaking formula usually sees 35% whole-bunch fruit and 65% destemmed fruit. Aging is always in old foudre, with the youngest wood being eight years old. Fermentations are executed with extreme care. "We used to make wine like coffee, now we make it like tea," says Eben Sadie. EBEN SADIE The 2023 Skerpioen displays the usual limey and citrus flavours associated with the vineyard.This wine’s distinctive saline qualities, salty taste, and minerality are again prominent.The Chenin and Palomino field blend is very stable annually in its expression. The tannins and the acidity are slightly softer than in the last two vintages, and this vintage could be savoured earlier as the balance and mouthfeel are already very balanced. 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 / 1g/l / pH 3,3 / TA 6 g/l / Total Sulphur 81 mg/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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||