2023 Sadie Family Stellenbosch Mev. Kirsten

Highly Rated

Price:
Sale price$365.00
Stock:
Sold out
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

Mev. Kirsten is one of South Africa’s most celebrated white wines, crafted from the country’s oldest Chenin Blanc vineyard, planted between 1905 and 1920 in Stellenbosch’s Jonkershoek Valley. This historic site, nestled at the foot of Bothmaskop Mountain, sits on decomposed sandstone and granite soils, contributing to the wine’s singular character and precision.

Eben Sadie has tended to this revered one-hectare vineyard since 2006, using meticulous interplanting of mass-selection cuttings to sustain the ancient vines. The wine ferments naturally in old foudre with plenty of solids and matures on fine lees for 12 months before bottling, unfiltered. Each bottle reflects both the heritage of the vineyard and Sadie’s exacting craftsmanship.

The 2023 vintage offers incredible structure and depth, with a taut linearity underscored by remarkable acidity and a rich, textured palate. It balances power with elegance, showing an impressive ability to evolve in the glass and the cellar.

This is a wine designed for patience; Eben recommends a decade in the bottle to unlock its full potential. For those who can’t wait, a long decant will help reveal its layers. With minuscule quantities available, this rare gem is a testament to the profound potential of South African Chenin Blanc.

99 points
"Mev Kirsten is the oldest Chenin Blanc vineyard in the Cape... I can't recall a better release of this wine, which feels like the product of a lifetime's work. Serious, concentrated and intense, with remarkable focus and vivacity."
- Tim Atkin MW (South Africa Report 2024)

97 points
"A wildly concentrated white, exuding ripe yellow and tropical fruit such as mango, melon, lemon curd, and apple crumble. Tied together on the palate with refreshing citrusy acidity. Full-bodied and generous, yet focused. Chenin Blanc from Jonkershoek Valley, including vines planted in 1905."
- Claire Nesbitt (James Suckling)

96 points
"The 2023 Mev. Kirsten... has superb weight and density, with an irresistible, slightly viscous texture counterbalanced by a keen thread of acidity. Fabulous from beginning to end."
- Neal Martin (Vinous)

99 points - "It doesn't look like much up close - a few vines at the bottom of the Jonkershoek Valley overshadowed by an electricity pylon - but Mev Kirsten is the oldest Chenin Blanc vineyard in the Cape, planted in 1905 on decomposed sandstone and alluvial granite soils. I can't recall a better release of this wine, which feels like the product of a lifetime's work. Serious, concentrated and intense, this has layers of oatmeal, pear, citrus, lanolin and dried honey, remarkable focus and vivacity and the concentration to develop beautifully in bottle." - Tim Atkin MW (South Africa Report 2024)

97 points - "A wildly concentrated white, exuding ripe yellow and tropical fruit such as mango, melon, lemon curd, and apple crumble. Tied together on the palate with refreshing citrusy acidity. Full-bodied and generous, yet focused. Chenin Blanc from Jonkershoek Valley, including vines planted in 1905." - Claire Nesbitt (James Suckling)

96 points - "The 2023 Mev. Kirsten is perhaps the most closed of the three Chenins, unfolding with time to reveal scents of yellow fruit, oyster shell and a touch of lanolin. The palate has superb weight and density—the most fruit-driven Chenin, with an irresistible, slightly viscous texture counterbalanced by a keen thread of acidity. It’s even a little petrolly on the finish. Fabulous from beginning to end." - Neal Martin (Vinous)

Stellenbosch. Sadie has been working with Chenin off this “truly incredible” granite vineyard at 220 metres on the foot of Bothmaskop Mountain in Stellenbosch’s Jonkershoek Valley since 2006. With most of the vines planted between 1905 and 1920, the mere one hectare (belonging to Mrs Kirsten and her family) is recognised as the oldest Chenin Blanc in South Africa. Due to the age of the vines, Sadie has been interplanting mass-selection cuttings to prolong the vineyard’s life, though the younger vines are vinified separately. In time, the younger fraction will also be included in the blend.

Eben describes this hyper-rare wine as his most powerful and structured Chenin Blanc, juxtaposing silky elegance with immense texture, density and power. It ferments in an old foudre with lots of solids and is bottled unfiltered after 12 months of aging. The wine possesses the beaming acidity and linear shape of all Sadie’s 2023 Chenin Blanc and is simply one of the more restrained and complex vintages for this box-office Chenin. Eben urges clients to give this wine the benefit of time in the bottle, noting it needs a decade to reveal its full potential. If you can’t wait, a decanter will help!

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type White
Body Full Bodied
Variety Chenin Blanc
Country South Africa
Region Stellenbosch
Feature High Score
Reviewed By James Suckling
Critic Score 99
96
97
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Cork

Sadie Family Wines

One of the tearaway producers of the revitalised Swartland wine scene, Sadie Family Wines has had an astronomical rise to fame on the international stage.

Owner and winemaker, Eben Sadie, first found acclaim under the banner of Terroir Al Limit where he was a co-founder alongside Dominik Huber. In the same way that Terroir Al Limit helped redefine what wine could taste like from Priorat in Spain, Sadie handles his family wines and vines with that same ruthless attention to detail.

These wines perfectly articulate a sense of place. Sadie's transparency in winemaking and obsessive farming practices reveal intense, tightly-wound wines with distinct personality. These are now some of South Africa's most keenly sought-after artisan wines. Worldwide allocations are minuscule and hotly contested. As little as a handful of bottles make it to Australia each year. Secure these rare birds while you can.

Eben Sadie in the vineyard Sadie Family Wines

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Call Us

Send a message