Rotsbank

This very restrained and firm wine will pair exceptionally well with shellfish.

The vineyard sits perched on the Paardeberg’s Aprilskloof rock shelf, with only 30–50 cm of soil above fractured rock. Despite these harsh conditions, the vines survive—and thrive—yielding intensely concentrated fruit.

The wine ages for 12 months on the fermentation lees in cask and is bottled directly from the lees. Approximately 60 ppm of sulfur is added two weeks before bottling.

Following harvest, grapes are cooled to mitigate the high ambient temperatures (averaging 35 °C+). Whole-bunch pressing lasts around three hours, during which settling occurs in the collection tank. The turbid juice is then transferred to two old foudres for fermentation.

The Sadie Family strives for wines that are fresh flavorsome refined harmonious and balanced and aims to offer drinking pleasure at the highest level of quality at any stage of a wine's life: the wine-drinker's eagerness for a further glass is their measure of achievement! The Sadie's two wines Columella and Palladius originate in the soils in the Swartland region which stretches north of Cape Town between Durbanville and Piketberg inland from the Atlantic Ocean and centered on the town of Malmesbury. Importantly the area has a remarkably stable climate allowing a consistent level of quality each year in subtly different vintage conditions.