The
Sadie Family strives for wines that
are fresh, flavorsome, refined, harmonious
and balanced and aims to offer drinking
pleasure at the highest level of quality,
at any stage of a wine's life: the
wine-drinker's eagerness for a further
glass is their measure of achievement!
VINEYARDS
The Sadie's two wines, Columella and
Palladius, originate in the soils
in the Swartland region, which stretches
north of Cape Town between Durbanville
and Piketberg, inland from the Atlantic
Ocean, and centered on the town of
Malmesbury. Importantly, the
area has a remarkably stable climate,
allowing a consistent level of quality
each year, in subtly different vintage
conditions.
Grapes
for these wines are grown on many
of the different soil-types of the
Malmesbury area, including the three
most important soil structures associated
with the region:
•
decomposed
slate
•
decomposed
granite
•
Table
Mountain sandstone and slate/clay
mixture
Initially
identifying fine vineyards may be
the most difficult element of the
wine-producing process. To achieve
this demands commitment to the notion
of terroir the unity of all the
natural components that influence
the vine and, ultimately, the grape
itself: soil, geology, landscape and
climate. Understanding the complex
interactions of the myriad components
as well as the crucial effect of
human intervention is essential
in liberating great wine.
VINIFICATION
What is most important to remember
in vinification is that nothing of
essential value can be introduced
but a great deal can be lost. The
'winemaker' cannot, in fact, create:
he must understand the soils and what
they produce, learn the best means
of preserving what is received from
nature's vineyards and deliver its
potential as fine wine. Eben Sadie
is responsible for the vinification
of Columella and Palladius.
Fermentation
in open-top, wooden, 2500 liter fermenters
occurs naturally, with native yeasts,
and therefore tends to be slow, taking
up to three to four weeks to complete.
Fermentation temperature is controlled,
usually at 2426°C, depending
on the vineyard from which the grapes
were taken. As fermentation progresses,
the skins are repeatedly punched down
('pigeage') in the age-old tradition.
A
WORD ON COLUMELLA
The most excellent wine is one which
has given pleasure by its own natural
qualities. Nothing must be mixed
with it which might obscure its natural
taste, observed Lucius Junius Moderatus
Columella. This timelessly valid
judgment appeared over two millennia
ago, in Columella's treatise on farming,
De re Rustica (On Country
Matters'), the most comprehensive
account of Roman viticulture. It
is a fitting definition of a wine
named to honor Columella, a wine carefully
nurtured to express its origins in
the soils of South Africa 's Swartland
region, first made from the 2000 vintage.
Why
an ancient Roman in modern Swartland? Columella,
as mentioned earlier, was one of the
most important writers on viticulture
and vinification in early Rome . Through
his work and direction, many grapes
made their way up the Rhone on whose
steep northerly banks Syrah is now
produced in its purest form. And
as syrah forms the basis of our wine,
says Eben Sadie, and as I am fascinated
by Columella and admire his work and
his understanding of viticulture
well, why not?
A
WORD ON PALLADIUS
And as the red wine produced by The
Sadie Family is called Columella,
it is only fitting that the white
wine produced is named after Palladius,
the successor of Columella.
Please take a moment to
review both the Columella and Palladius profiles,
in PDF form, as found on the right
side of this screen. Eben Sadie
is an incredibly passionate and articulate
winemaker and these profiles make
for a fascinating read!
Take
a moment to view this fascinating
video featuring Eben Sadie describing
his
