The Sadie Family, Columella, Swartland

Sadie Family Wines with the Jeroboam Club (Bristol) : In a very different idiom from the 14, reflecting the much warmer growing conditions. The fruit was certainly ripe, and nicely complemented by a streak of violets, but there was some raisiny notes that were out of place, and a bit of a sweaty character. It was much bigger in the mouth than the 14, with good energy and grip, but a decent finish, but it was a bit diffuse to …

2015 vintage

Major mistake was to not decant this for 1.5 hours or more. Started out quite jammy with intense ripe plum and slight hints of madeira. Noticeably tart on the palate as well. After an hour in the glass things mellowed out to a much smoother profile, leather, tobacco, spice, powdery tannins. Will have to crack another bottle and do it properly!

2015 vintage

BTG at the Tate Modern. Ripe and welcoming, and felt totally ready to enjoy. Almost a classic Syrah in style, perhaps with a slighty Zinfandel character, with warm spice and jam. Still enough acidity to feel drinkable and food-friendly, though. I enjoyed this a lot, but I'm glad I sold my bottle as I don't think it's worth the current secondary market price.

2015 vintage

Avalon restaurant (and Oocker) (Amsterdam, NL) : [Restaurant purchase] No detailed notes, tasted blind. In the flight next to the Jamet Cote Rotie ‘16, very interesting to taste them side by side. This was a bit more polished with more ripe black fruit. Very good and stood firm next to Jamet, but just not as special as the Jamet

2015 vintage

North London TWS Tastings series: South Africa (Must and Lees, N1) (Must and Lees N1) : This was sublime A meaty, leathery nose with intense dryied blueberry fruit. Great red and blue fruit on the palate but balanced acidity that both creates ideal tension but also speaks to this being able to age much further. Wonderful stuff

2007 vintage

So dark - almost blue. Gorgeous - assertive, concentrated, full of power. Easily the best red of today's tasting so far. Dense, rich, intense - an explosive red that really provokes. This is just super - and so alive at 15 years. Huge. Colossal in fact. A notch above the '07 I had two years ago. Clearly a wine and a vintage of great ageing pedigree. Spice, fruit, structure in both abundance and equilibrium. Masterful Eben Sadie once again.

2007 vintage

I am in full agreement with the three notes below. Wine of the night by a country mile; tasted like an expensive Cote Rotie; fabulous. Inevitably I looked into sourcing some, but sadly it seems that the train left the platform a long time ago. Easily the best SA wine I have ever tasted.

2007 vintage

South Africa (Must and Lees, N1) : Dark red. Terrific nose of blackberry, blueberry and blackcurrant. The palate is just as rich and filled with thrilling fruit. Hedonistic. Crazily fresh and youthful - just incredibly alive and vibrant, and like the MR Compostella 2013 probably still has decades ahead. On the basis of this bottle you could be probably be still drinking this in 2040, the CT drink dates are a nonsense. Equally it is stunning right now! A real …

2007 vintage

South African wines of North London (Must & Lees) : Oh boy - pretty obviously the WOTN from the first sniff. Still very dark to look at. Deep nose, with musky, powdery violets, leather, plum, blueberry jam and even little hints of cocoa. Quite beautiful on the palate, effortlessly enjoyable, soft and definitely in the zone. Definitely a wine to share between two rather than twelve :-)

2007 vintage

Black berries, plum, spices, herbs, tobacco and leather. Long finish. Drinkable right now but will improve over the 10 years.

2015 vintage

Decanted for two hours. Super Syrah blend, power with elegance. Fruit with pepper and spice. Drink or hold.

2007 vintage

Blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Carignan and Cinsault coming from multiple vineyards in Paardeberg, Kasteelberg, Malmesbury and Piquetberg in Swartland. Decanted for two hours before tasting. Complex and layered on its nose showing mulberry, plum and black cherry aromas along with herbs and sweet spices. Elements of leather and tobacco join later. Beautifully rounded with a velvety texture. Offers plenty of youthful fruit well poised by its bright acidity. So accessable right now but will age beautifully.

2015 vintage

Medium purple colored. Blackberries, dark cherries and lots of interesting spices and herbs in the nose and on the palate. Some soft cigar box and wet leather notes in the background. Medium (+) bodied with a medium acidity. Silky tannins, not completely integrated yet. Alcohol feels a tiny bit too hot. Quite powerful structure. Good complexity and length. Finish is long and savory. Not my favorite Columella vintage but a good one. Will definitely benefit from some more aging years. …

2015 vintage

Terroir-istes Local - Syrah Blends 2 (Cape Town - Las Cases) : (Tasted Blind): Mid ruby in colour. Intense aromas of white pepper, blackberry compote, Assam tea and crushed rocks. Vibrant entry with fresh acidity and a silky texture. Delicate, complex, the wine has an edgy, minerally chalkiness on the mid-palate that breathes life into its core of dark berries, some sliced black plum, soft herbs, and crushed oyster shells. With great depth and impressive length, this is poised and …

2015 vintage

not blind today not in best shape. The fruit was missing, Spicy but without fruit expression. Maybe in a closed stage. 10 month ago with more deepness and Sadie typical power and elegance. 90

2007 vintage

A blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Cinsaut, Grenache and Tinta Barroca from multiple interplanted vineyards. Fermented in 3300-liter open-top concrete fermenters for 3 weeks, followed by another 3 weeks of maceration with the skins. Racked into French oak barriques (8% new) for 12 months of aging, followed by another 12 months in oval-shaped oak foudres. Bottled without fining and filtration. 14% alcohol, 2,1 g/l residual sugar, 5,4 g/l acidity, pH 3,45 and total SO2 90 mg/l. Total production 9500 bottles. …

2015 vintage

serengeti, bush-bush wine, top, earthy, well balanced

2015 vintage

I was so excited to open this bottle, having kept it for 10 years. Drank it with the friend who gave it to me after returning from South Africa. Well... No disappointment! Dark, blue-black inky colour. No discolouration - seems incredibly youthful. Powerful aromas of crushed blackberries, cocoa, plums... Grippy but not astringent, luscious and jammy but not overly sweet. I think the Syrah (85%) nicely brings pepperiness and acidity and the modest but not uninfluential (15%) proportion of Mourvedre …

2007 vintage

Dark ruby color. Lots of dark berries in the nose. On the palate ripe cherries, blackberries, dark chocolate and some soft herbal notes. Medium to medium+ bodied - very complex and elegant. Grippy tannins and a soft acidity bring some youthful freshness to it. Long and super savory finish. If tasted blind I would have put this somewhere between 2013 and 2015. So much power left here and no real tertiary notes yet. If stored well, this will hold another …

2007 vintage

Columella complete Vertical Tasting (Fritz Frau Frazi Düsseldorf) : First of all it was an amazing tasting. No bottle was corked or defective. We double decanted all bottles. We drank one bottle after one. No flights. We started with the bold years but they were so good that I changed the order after 6 vintages and I mixed the elegant years in between. All old bottles delivered phantastically. The order 2005 Still primary fruit, very balanced, starting to reach his …

2015 vintage

Black fruits, plums, peppers, vanilla with a long warm finish. New world in style. Powerful and full bodied. Still very young. Has good potential. Would give this 5 years

2015 vintage

Deep ruby colour keeping still some hints of purple. The nose is expressive but not overwhelming, displaying very complex aromas of blackberry, dark cherries, black plums, lavender, thym, black pepper, walnut, clove, cedar and hints of vanilla. It is dry in the mouth and full bodied with a firm but fine-grained tannic structure. The alcohol is very well integrated and balanced by a wealth of flavour concentration. A lively refreshing acidity provides even more balance, along with tension in the …

2015 vintage

JP 5 WA 97

2015 vintage

It never ceases to surprise me just how good this wine is. Drinking really nicely now but will hang on and develop for many years yet. On a night of a 4 bottle buffet, this blew everything else away, and no one on the table was a fruit bomb person.

2007 vintage

Fantastic. Good to go. So enjoyable with. A good, fun dinner

2007 vintage

Lovely depth on the nose and high intensity on the palate. Very well balanced and polished, but with good acidity and tannins. Will probably keep for plenty of years to come, but drinks good now as well. Won't score as this is only from memory.

2007 vintage

Sanslöst intensivt med massiv mörkröd frukt som drar åt plommon, hallon och torkade körsbär. Fin kryddighet och komplexitet med lagerblad, läder, chark och små inslag av dill och möjligen ett uns tjära och rök. Hittar även en del blyerts och mörk krossad sten. Fylligt, intensivt och kraftfullt i munnen med fokus, balans och en längd som knappt hinner klinga av innan det är dags för nästa sipp. Unga knivskarpa tanniner och känslan är att det fortfarande finns en hel del …

2007 vintage

Great Wine, I love the Sadie Wines, but this the best Red from ZA, pure energy, concentration, density, mighty tannins but soft and silky, mocha, tobacco, dark chocolate, not that much developed as the 2003, I give him 10 more years, still fruity smoky aromas

2007 vintage

Rather closed.

2007 vintage

Full, dense, long, hedonistic wine

2007 vintage

This bottle came across as bigger and fruitier than I remember previous bottles. Good to go for drinking now. Very nice

2007 vintage

Opened as an after-thought to a 96 lalande. This did more than hold its own. Plenty of tannins to keep this improving over the next few years but the elegance and quality is here to see now. Very impressive and a fun drink.

2007 vintage

excellent but still very young. Needs air &/or time in the bottle

2007 vintage

very,very well made! loved it going to buy more

2007 vintage

From memory: Decanted for a couple of hours before tasting. Dark, dense and opulent. Blackberries, plums, mocha and vanilla. Well strctured and nicely balanced. Absolutely delicious.

2007 vintage

Very pure and nice expression of Syrah, with opulent dark fruit, and aromas of licorice, cinnamon, mocha, and dark chocolate. Great mid-palate, without hard edges and without showing too much warm. Very balanced and elegant. It deserves a few more years in the cellar.

2007 vintage

Dark berries on the nose. Tasted of dark chocolate and hint of liqourice. Really nice wine, very balanced and mild. Still a bit young though.

2007 vintage

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The Sadie Family, Columella, Swartland

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