The Sadie Family is a
South African __NOTOC__
South African may relate to:
* The nation of South Africa
* South African Airways
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* South African people
* Languages of South Africa
* Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...
producer of
wine located in the
Swartland region. Following the emergence of flagship wines Columella and Palladius, winemaker Eben Sadie has been described as an ', South Africa's first certified celebrity winemaker, and by supporters as "one of the greatest and most original winemakers in the southern hemisphere". He has also branched out to other wine regions, such as in
Spain.
[Goode, Jamie, wineanorak.co]
The wines of Sadie Family
/ref>[Robinson, Jancis, jancisrobinson.com (11 August 2009)]
The virtues of blending
/ref>
History
Prior to his career as a winemaker, following a period as a surfer,Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...
.[ Having returned to South Africa, Sadie found work under Charles Back at The Spice Route in 1998,][Apple, R.W., ''The New York Times'' (22 April 1998)]
A South African Black On a Road Never Traveled
/ref> eventually becoming the chief winemaker and a resource Back described as "national asset for the South African wine industry".
The solo venture The Sadie Family was founded in 1999.[Atkin, Tim, decanter.com (8 June 2009)]
Interview with Eben Sadie
/ref> The initial vintage of Columella in 2000 began on an exceptionally small scale, with a production of 17 barrels, approximately 5000 bottles.[ The first two vintages were produced at Back's Spice Route facilities until Sadie established Sadie Family Wines with R9000 (US$), and 14 barrels. The company consists of three employees, in addition to Eben Sadie, his brother and sister.][Yarrow, Alder, vinography.com (3 October 2008)]
Sadie Family Wines, Swartland, South Africa
/ref> The initial vintage of the Palladius was in 2002 with a production of seven barrels, just under 2000 bottles.
The Sadie Family has enjoyed success beyond any other modern South African wine producer as Columella is the most highly rated South African wine, and the only to achieve a 95-point rating by US wine magazine '' Wine Spectator''.[James, Tim, ''Grape'' (27 September 2009)]
Columella glows in starlight
/ref> In defense of Columella's high retail price per bottle, Sadie states the wine is unusually costly to make.
Sequillo Cellars
Since 2003, the label Sequillo Cellars was started by Eben Sadie in partnership with Cornel Spies, to some degree considered The Sadie Family's more affordable second wines.[
Eben Sadie stopped producing this wine in 2014. He is now focusing on The Sadie Family Wines exclusively.
]
Terroir al Límit
Eben Sadie was also involved with Spanish wine producer Terroir Al Límit in the village of Torroja in Priorat, Catalonia. This was a joint collaboration with Dominik A. Huber and viticulturist Jaume Sabaté.
Production
Sadie sources Syrah
Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...
and Mourvèdre from various ' located in the Voor-Paardeberg ward of the inland Paarl district,[Molesworth, James, ''Wine Spectator'' (30 April 2009).]
Diversity and Value
/ref> in total covering 48 separate parcels. Biodynamically produced, the grape yield average is extremely low, 1.2 pounds per vine.[Yarrow, Alder, vinography.com (3 October 2008)]
Sadie Family Wines, Swartland, South Africa
/ref> Vineyard pests are controlled using a seaweed spray. After, grapes are hand-sorted, stored in open wooden vats, twice daily trampled for a month, and then moved by buckets to a traditional basket press. Instead of using pumps to move the wine into barrels, gravity is applied.[
For the flagship wine Columella, there is a blend of Syrah and Mourvèdre from eight different vineyard sites, and for Palladius there is blended Chenin blanc, Grenache blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne, ]Viognier
Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu in the Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 754 Oxford University Press 2006 Outside of the Rhôn ...
, Clairette and Chardonnay
Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...
. There is also produced a bush-vine white varietal wine from Chenin blanc named Mrs Kirsten's Old Vines.
From Sequillo Cellars, there are produced the Sequillo Red and Sequillo White. The red consists of Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache
Grenache () or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditi ...
, and the white is composed from Chenin blanc, Grenache blanc, Viognier, and Roussanne.[
]
References
{{reflist, refs=
[{{citation, title=Vinologue Priorat, author=Miquel Hudin, publisher= Vinologue, isbn=978-0-983-77185-2, year=2015, pages=480, url=http://www.vinologue.com/books/priorat/]
External links
The Sadie Family official site
Wineries of South Africa
Economy of the Western Cape