Sadie Third Selection 2024 Release

This vineyard is located next to the old railway line (treinspoor) and was named accordingly. The very fragile, thin skin of Tinta Barocca is prone to sunburn, but in this case the old bush vines have formed a great framework to keep the bunches sheltered from the intense Swartland sun. Tinta Barocca has the textural nature of the Nebbiolo grape and the aromatic orientation of Syrah - a great combination. It produces wines of great character and expression that are built to last. The grapes are fermented with 50% whole clusters and 50% being destemmed and the fermentation is left for about 25 – 30 days prior to being pressed in an old basket press. Only bucket overs are done in the fermentation for it is very easy to over-extract Tinta Barocca since the grapes hold an abundance of tannins.

Tinta Barocca is a grape that carries the soil into the bottle, it is a great communicator of terroir. The grape has had a longstanding relationship with the Swartland and the spicy herbal aromatics and dark purple plum like fruit carries over into a very tight and compressed core of the wine. As mentioned before the tannins of Tinta Barocca have very much the same behaviour as those of Nebbiolo and proper ageing is required. Historically we have referenced that Tinta Barocca might be the most significant red variety of the historical plantings to transport the terroir and typicity of a site to bottle.

After pressing the wine is transferred into 28-year-old conical wooden casks that do not impart any wooden flavours. The age and the saturation of the wooden staves also make for a very slow reaction between the wine and oxygen. After 11 months on the lees the wine is racked to another concrete tank for an additional month to settle clean and 2 weeks prior to bottling we add 65mg/Litre of sulphur and bottle the wine from the fine lees.

Hand sorting of individual berries of the entire production in small “strawberry” cases. Fermentation takes place spontaneously in 3300 litre open concrete fermenters for about three weeks at a temperature of 24 °C and is then followed by a post-fermentation maceration of another three weeks. No additions are made to the fermenting wine. Pressing takes place in a traditional basket press and the wine is transferred to the barrel (5% new) for malolactic fermentation.

Our Signature wines spearhead our viticultural and vinicultural developments and the yearly renewed implementation of more finite and precise workings. The incremental growth of Mourvèdre, Carignan, Cinsaut and Tinta Barocca in the final blend has contributed much to the depth and complexity of tannins. The fruit purity has also been lifted with remarkable freshness on the palate. The Columella has taken on many dimensions and interpretations over time, with quality being the central pillar, but more recently, the response to terroir has been more linear.

The wine spends 12 months on the lees in tight-grain French oak barrels, just 5% of them new, and is then racked into big oval casks (foudres) for an additional year of maturation on the fine lees. After two years the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The grapes are picked across a great many vineyards and taken into our cold room on arrival at the cellar. The next day the grapes are sorted and the whole bunches go into the press. The pressing lasts 2 - 3 hours and in that period a margin of settling of the juice takes place in the collecting tank. The turbid juice is then transferred to concrete eggs of 725 litres and 400 – 1200 litre clay amphoras for the next stage of natural fermentation. The fermentation temperatures in the clay amphorae and the concrete eggs are very constant and we only control the ambient temperature at around 18 degrees throughout the season. Each wine basically ferments in its own time – in some cases it may take up to 18 months - and every vineyard is fermented in the same vessel every year.

Over the past 5 years Palladius has been the wine that grew the most in quality and refinement and much of this has to do with the addition of more vineyards and the improvement of their viticulture. Currently of all our wines, the Palladius, with 17 vineyards, obviously represents the biggest canvas of the Swartland.

The Palladius matures in these vessels for 12 months and is then racked off into big old foudres for an additional 12 months ageing prior to bottling. After two years the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered.

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.

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 the Atlantic 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.

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.