Cape Heritage and The Loire
Timed Online Auction, 1 - 12 August 2024
Cape Heritage - Red Wines
About the SessionThe Cape Heritage Red Wine Session features 25 lots from The Tabernacle – the famous underground cellar in Stellenbosch that houses some of South Africa’s most spectacular vinous historical treasures. All the lots from The Tabernacle have been recorked; each bottle was opened for inspection, under the protection of an argon gas blanket, and Strauss & Co fine wine specialist Higgo Jacobs along with Amorim tasted and assessed each wine. The wines were topped up with wine from the same vintage, recorked and resealed, all under the supervision of a technical team from Amorim Corks.
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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 Treinspoor is part of the Sadie Family Old Vine Series, South Africa’s most sought-after modern wines. From 40+ year old vines, this 100% Tinta Barocca is named after the railway line that runs alongside the vineyard. The Treinspoor can be considered his longest-ageing red wine.
Provenance
Private Client
Critics Ratings
‘The 2014 Old Vine Series Treinspoor is 100% Tinta Barocca planted in 1974, a grape that Eben Sadie rates very highly. There is something placid about the nose, which is refined and reclining in a comfy chair at the moment. The fruit is slightly darker than the 2014 Pofadder, with a hint of vanilla and cola tincturing the dark berry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp, grainy tannin and supremely well-judged acidity. It becomes more structured and masculine towards the finish, which offers great details, precision and superb mineralité. Eben compared it to a cross between Nebbiolo and a Syrah, and I can see where he is coming from. One of those wines that shifts your preconception about a grape variety.’ – Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, 95/100 (Nov 2015)
‘Deeply coloured, as it always is, this is a brilliant interpretation of a grape that’s normally used to make fortified wines. Dense, tannic and Italianate, it’s like a cross between an Aglianico and a Nebbiolo, with high acidity, notes of Mediterranean herbs and rich damson and blackberry fruit. Needs time. Drink: 2016-24’ - Tim Atkin MW, SA Special Report 2015, 94/100
‘Good deep red. Deep, wild aromas of raspberry, plum, cherry, leather and botanical herbs, accented by dusty spices. Brisk acidity intensifies the sappy dark berry flavors; expanded impressively with air while maintaining its outstanding inner-mouth tension. Finishes juicy and succulent, with big, broad tannins and superb perfumed length. Made from a Portuguese grape variety found mostly in the Douro Valley, where it is a key ingredient in many ports, this wine struck me as like a hypothetical blend of a Rhone and a Piedmont wine. Sadie, who admitted that he overextracted this fruit in 2010 and 2011, told me that he will put a bit of this vineyard into his flagship Columella bottling, which is a regional wine rather than an expression of a single site.’ – Stephen Tanzer, Vinous, 91+/100 (Apr 2015)
‘2014 Swartland tinta barocca feels like Soldaat’s no-frills, overalled brother. Lively, with dry, grippy tannin, generous (but still masked) raspberry fruit & spritzy, appetising acidity. Eben Sadie’s own ‘red of the vintage’, needs time to settle down & reveal its inner self.’ - Platter’s SA Wine Guide 2014, 4.5*
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