Cape Heritage Wines
Online-Only Auction, 22 - 29 August 2022
Cape Heritage Wines
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.
The Mev Kirsten heralds from a vineyard at the base of Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch. Generally recognized as the oldest Chenin Blanc vineyard in SA, having been established between 1905 and 1920, there were only a miniscule 82 cases made. It was released in the same year as the passing of Mrs. Anna Kirsten and this vintage was dedicated in her honour and features a special neck label to commemorate her life.
Notes
If you buy 2 lots of 3 it will be packed in a Sadie Family Wines box.
Provenance
Wine Cellar Private Client
Critics Ratings
‘Always priced above the other Sadie whites, largely because of the age and small size of the vineyard and the tiny yields, this is a stunning Chenin in 2016: rich, dense and honeyed, but with a structure that would suit a red wine, with notes of pepper spice and struck match and a long, minerally finish. 2018-28.’ – Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2017, 96/100
'With a richer, bolder expression, a testament to the challenging vintage, the 2016 Old Vine Series Mev Kirsten has a gorgeous nose, showing dusty pineapple, apple skin with white spice and baked earth. In the mouth, the wine expands to show greater depth with a delicate nuttiness and mineral tension, with the subtle growing flavor of arugula, moving slightly waxy across the mid-palate. Medium to full-bodied, the mouthfeel is well textured and has an amazing liveliness to the long complex and lingering finish. - Neal Martin RobertParker.com 94/100
‘White peach, pear and nectarine, 2016 Chenin from 100+ year old block’s quintessential Stellenbosch fruit character is precise and pure, perhaps even more so than in 2015 (94 pts). The least savoury/mineral of these whites, at least in this vintage, its dignity and persistence is always beyond reproach. Fermented/year in concrete ‘eggs’ and clay pots.’ – Platter’s SA Wine Guide 2016, 4.5* (93/100)