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 | 2023 Soldaat - Sadie Family Wines | € 61,37 (€ 74,26) |
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IN DE PERS 93 Neal Martin - vinous.com (September 2024) The 2023 Soldaat is Grenache planted on quartz sandstone. It has a well-defined, open-knit bouquet of Morello cherry and strawberry, moderate in terms of complexity. To put it in banal terms, it might be the "prettiest" of Sadie's reds this year. The palate is all pomegranate and red cherries. Fresh and vibrant with only light tannins, this is not powerful, but it's very expressive, possessing a lilting quality that is just irresistible. Lovely. Drink 2024-2040. 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. 95 Monica Larner - robertparker.com (Juni 2025) The Sadie Family 2023 Citrusdal Mountain Old Vine Series Soldaat comes from the remote Piekenierskloof area, which again sees weathered Table Mountain sandstone formations. Winemaking starts in concrete tanks that are partially filled with whole clusters (about 30%) and topped off with destemmed fruit in order to get some juice in the vats and to activate the yeasts. Fermentation lasts about 30 days on the skins, and an old basket press is used. The wine only sees concrete for 12 months. This graceful Grenache is beautifully nuanced with wild berry aromas, blue flower and a chiseled point of rusty nail or iron ore that adds high-toned elegance, bordering on fragility. 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 This 2023 Soldaat displays the usual red cherry and strawberry fruit aromas that carry through into deeper earthy flavours.This year, the colour is slightly darker but still bright red, and the tannins are more textured and compact.The fruit is overall quite expressive, and the mouthfeel of the more compact tannins suggests that this vintage will age well and the wine will gain massive complexity with time in the bottle.The underlying dormant secondary flavours are well knitted together with the acidity. VINIFICATION | Grenache is one of the most planted red varietals globally and had a greater presence in the early 1900’s in South Africa. Recent indications are that that it is making a come-back and many new vineyards have been planted lately. The reality is that young Grenache tends to over-produce and in many respects its big previous downfall can be linked to this fact, but when a vineyard comes of age and/or is planted in a less forgiving site with reduced fruit load, it can compete with the most elegant and refined reds of the Mediterranean climate. We basically fill the concrete tanks whole cluster to about 60% and then destem 40% to get some juice in the tank to have the initiation of fermentation. The fermentation is for about 30 days on the skins and then we press the grapes in an old basket press. AGEING | After pressing the wine is transferred back into concrete, therefore the fermentation on the skins, pressing and the subsequent ageing all take place in 33Hl concrete tanks. The wine is left for 8 months on the lees and then racked to another concrete tank for an additional 4 months to settle clean. Three weeks prior to bottling we add 60mg/Litre of sulphur and bottle the wine from the fine lees. NOTES | The fermentation of the Soldaat vineyard is a wonderful experience in the cellar since the red strawberry, cherry and pomegranate kind of fresh fruit aromas and perfumes fill the entire space; and these and similar flavours are to be found in the resultant wine. Grenache is a grape that completely translates the terroir into liquid. The purity of fruit and transparency of the wine, with very earthy notes, develop into greater complexity with time – this is the main characteristic here alongside the fresh fruit aromas. The tannin textures do reward those that have the nerve to wait and allow the wine to mature properly for 5 – 8 years minimum. Citrusdal Mountain Piekenierskloof / Grenache / 12 months ageing in concrete only / Decomposed Table Mountain sandstone formations 22hl/ha / 13,18%vol / 1,5g/l / pH 3,5 / TA 5,8g/l / Total Sulphur 83mg/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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||