2024 Sadie Family Swartland Twiswind
2024 Sadie Family Swartland Twiswind

2024 Sadie Family Swartland Twiswind

96 pts
Sadie Family Wines |Swartland |Chenin Blanc
The debut release of a climate-resilient field blend from a windy Paardeberg site, mixing 12 varieties to create a zesty, saline and structurally tense white.
Price:
$179.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

This is a pretty exciting moment - the maiden release from Eben Sadie’s new Twiswind vineyard. Planted in 2019 on a windy south-western slope of the Paardeberg, this site was designed specifically to future-proof the estate against a warming climate. The name translates to "argue against the wind," which gives you a solid idea of the conditions up there.

It’s a co-planted field blend of 12 varieties chosen for their ability to handle the heat and keep their freshness - think Chenin Blanc and Semillon alongside Mediterranean players like Vermentino, Picpoul, Grillo and Assyrtiko. The weathered granite soils drain fast, leading to early ripening and naturally low alcohol.

The result is racy and electric. You get plenty of zest, lime and Granny Smith apple aromatics, but the palate is where it gets serious. It has an intense, structural mouthfeel built on tannin tension rather than just fruit weight. It’s salty, mineral and incredibly energetic - a fascinating look at where the Swartland is heading.

96 points
"It’s very racy, saline, and mineral, with a medium body and fantastic energy. So much complexity and salty brightness."
- James Suckling

James Suckling

James Suckling

James Suckling 96 Points

Lovely aromatics to this white, showing mangosteen, lemon, sliced pears, wet stones and sea breeze on the nose. It’s very racy, saline, and mineral, with a medium body and fantastic energy. So much complexity and salty brightness. A blend of 12 varieties, co-planted in 2019. The first bottling of this wine from a windy site.

Swartland. First release. Established in 2019, Sadie’s Twiswind vineyard sits on a south-western slope of the Paardeberg. The weathered granite on this site is very coarse and extremely well-drained on a rocky subsoil stratum. Sadie explains that this terroir “leads to the early ripening of this vineyard, with ample natural acidity at the time of picking and relatively low alcohol levels at full ripeness.” The name, “to argue against the wind,” refers to the very blowy nature of the site which stunts the vine’s growth and restricts yields to 30 hl/ha at best. The vineyard was picked in two stages, and the two components were fermented in an old wooden cask (first pick) and a concrete tank (second pick). After pressing and wild fermentation, the wine moved to concrete tanks and old oak vats, where it remained for 11 months on lees.

As with the neighbouring Sonvang vineyard (planted to red varieties), the concept behind this wine was to establish a single-vineyard site with grape varieties that will withstand Swartland’s changing climate and thrive into the future. Sadie has chosen varieties already adapted to preserving freshness in warm, dry Mediterranean climates: Vermentino, Piquepoul, Grenache Blanc, Cinsault Blanc, Palomino, Grillo, Assyrtiko, Verdelho and Clairette alongside Chenin Blanc, Marsanne, and Semillon. On the maiden release, Sadie notes that the wine “displays limey and zesty dynamics with fresh Granny Smith apple and peach skin aromas. The intense palate and textural aspects somehow dwarf the aromatics, as the wine is built up from the structural mouthfeel and tension of tannins.”

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type White
Body Full Bodied
Variety Chenin Blanc
Country South Africa
Region Swartland
Feature High Score
Iconic
Cult
Reviewed By Tim Atkin MW
James Suckling
Critic Score 96
95
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
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

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