Chenin & Pinotage
Timed Online Auction, 4 - 11 September 2023
Chenin & Pinotage
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
About this Item
Eben Sadie is South Africa’s most revered winemaker and he arguably kick-started the local fine wine revolution. Over two decades his pursuit for quality in the Swartland has been unparalleled in South Africa and he was voted Winemaker of the Year in 2017 by the International Master of Wine Institute. Eben’s wines were influenced by the Rhône and Spain, with traditional local varieties sourced from pockets of old bush vines and unique terroirs. Long-ageing Columella is often regarded as South Africa’s best red, while Palladius similarly offers an incredible Swartland expression and decades of longevity. The old vine single vineyard series, which was first released in the 2009 vintage, is now firmly the most sought-after release of the year. Mev Kirsten is South Africa’s rarest white wine, produced from a century old Stellenbosch vineyard, while the now legendary Skurfberg received 100 points from Tim Atkin in 2020.
Palladius is the Sadie family’s signature white wine, a pure expression of the Swartland that is produced from 10 local and Rhône white varieties. Palladius is named after the Roman author who continued Columella’s work and is today one of SA’s most highly regarded white wines.
'We produced very little of the 2009 Palladius and dramatically reduced the percentage of Viognier which only accounts for 6%. The exciting part about the 2009 Palladius is its incredible balance and all-round equilibrium.' - Sadie Family Wines
Notes
This is not the original bottle shot.
Provenance
Private Client
Critics Ratings
‘A Cape benchmark, 2009 Chenin-led blend of 6 varieties, unfurls fleshy white stonefruit and glacé pineapple. Packed with impressive minerality, underpinned by harmonious acidity, subtle oaking. 18 months on lees in 600 and 1800L vats.’ - Platter’s SA Wine Guide 2011, 5*
‘Rich, appley. Good fruit on the mid palate. Exciting, dense and long. Toasted nuts and apples on the finish. No oak any more from 2009. Intense and introvert. Like lemon cough sweets but still too young. Smoked meats and spicy. Very angular.’ - Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, 18/20 (Apr 2014)
‘Fermented in a combination of 500-liter barrels, foudres and cement, the 2009 Palladius is a blend of (deep breath) old Chenin Blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Verdelho, Clairette and Palomino aged for two years in barrel. It has a crystalline bouquet with scents of dried honey, beeswax, hazelnut, broom and a faint touch of pinecone. The palate is very well balanced with good acidity and precision; notes of walnut, honeysuckle, orange zest and a little spice. It displays impressive persistence in the mouth and you find yourself contemplating this wine long after you have swallowed it, each sip slightly different to the last. Sublime.’ - Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, 94/100 (Aug 2011)
'Bright yellow-green. Brilliant aromas of lime, white peach, nectarine, flowers, green almond and pungent stony minerality. Rich but firm, with a tight, sappy core of white peach, minerals, honey and spices. Wonderfully intense and consistent from start to vibrant, palate-staining finish. With 24 hours in the recorked bottle, the wine showed a richer and more honeyed texture without loss of vibrancy. This should be even more complex in a year or so.' - Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, 93+/100 (Mar 2011)
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