South African & International Fine Wine
Live Auction, 14 September 2019
Session Two
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.
Columella is named after the ancient Roman writer who produced perhaps the earliest good treatise on viticulture in his De re rustica. Starting in 2000, Eben’s goal was to produce the finest expression of the Swartland and today Columella is South Africa’s most coveted red wine.
Provenance
Wine Cellar
Critics Ratings
Shiraz-led with mourvédre & grenache. Crammed with luscious berries, 10 tannins provide sleek musculature, but seamed throughout are violets, scrub, graphite, complex notes setting this wine apart. – Platter’s SA Wine Guide 2013, 5*
Good dark red. Knockout nose combines blueberry, mulberry, smoky raspberry, Asian spices, flinty minerality, coffee, leather and dusty herbs; showed an increasingly pinot-like perfume as it opened in the glass. Wonderfully aromatic in the mouth, with superb energy and lift to the juicy red berry, spice, floral and mineral flavors. Not a hugely fleshy wine but in vibrancy, complexity and inner-mouth perfume it transcends its category. Finishes with firm tannins and a whiplash of flavor. I'd like to taste this wine again in five or six years. – Stephen Tanzer 94/100, Vinous.com (2013)
The 2010 Columella saw just 10% of the crop aged in new large casks. The nose is well-defined and as nonchalant as Eben Sadie himself, gently unravelling blackberry, charcoal, eau-de-vie and allspice scents that are perfectly controlled. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, slightly grainy tannins. It is extremely well-balanced with supremely well-judged acidity. I much prefer this toned-down style of late, allowing the grape varieties and terroir to be articulated without interruption. Gorgeous! Drink 2014-2022 – Neal Martin 93/100, Wine Advocate (2013)
A layered style, with red and black currant, plum and blackberry fruit stretched over a sinewy structure and inlaid with singed cedar and mesquite notes that linger on the long, stony finish... – Wine Spectator 93/100 (2013)
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