Skerpioen

Ideal with fresh seafood such as grilled prawns or oysters, lightly spiced calamari, or creamy lemon risotto. The wine’s coastal salinity and citrus lift also complement soft goat’s cheese and seasonal salads.

The vineyard lies between Dwarskersbos and Elands Bay on the West Coast, about 2 km from the Atlantic Ocean. Soils are chalky limestone with a sandy top layer and a pH up to 9. Annual rainfall averages 300 mm, with strong south-easterly winds shaping vine growth. Old bush vines of Chenin Blanc and Palomino withstand harsh coastal conditions and deliver concentrated fruit at low yields of 28 hl/ha.

The wine spends 12 months in old Acacia and oak foudres, remaining on fermentation lees for the entire period. Bottled from the lees with 50 ppm sulphur added two weeks prior.

Grapes are cooled immediately after harvest, then whole-bunch pressed over three hours. The juice undergoes natural fermentation in two old foudres, starting after up to five days and continuing for one to six months, sometimes finishing in spring alongside malolactic 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.