Rhône theme
Timed Online Auction, 30 January - 10 February 2025
Rhône - South Africa
About the SessionOver the past decade South African Rhône-style offerings have witnessed an explosion in popularity, led by the Swartland in the 2010s and subsequently spreading across the Cape.
About this Item
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
Private Client
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, Vinous, 94/100 (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, Wine Advocate, 93/100 (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... 850 cases made.' – Wine Spectator, 93/100 (2013)