Sadie Family Wines - Top Weingut in Südafrikas Swartland Region

The Sadie Family's winery is run by Eben Sadie and his siblings - all united by a constant quest to bottle and capture the terroir of the rugged hills of the Western Cape.

Prior to his career as a winemaker, Eben Sadie gained experience in numerous wine regions in Germany, Austria, Italy, Oregon/USA and Burgundy/France. Upon his return to South Africa in 1998, he worked at The Spice Route Winery under Charles Back, where he was appointed Chief Winemaker at schlieβlich, and was considered a "national asset to the South African wine industry". The Sadie Family was founded in 1999 and Eben Sadie began producing his Columella wine on a small scale and on a truly mini-budget. He produced only 17 barrels of his first 2000 vintage, simply because he lacked the financial means for an gröβere investment. His goal was to create a wine that could have something of the Gröβe and class of wines he had encountered in Europe. In search of a suitable terroir he found three vineyards where he should achieve this goal.

Sadie has a more European philosophy when it comes to wine. "I don't like the term 'winemaker' at all," he explains. "Until recently, this term did not exist and today we live in a world where we 'make' wine. To work on a groβartigen wine means at the same time to remove oneself from the process and procedure and to recognize the importance of the terroir. In the whole "making wine" process, the meaning and value of the terroir is often lost.

The climate in this area of South Africa can be described as consistent as äuβerst and has a low rainfall. The area has mainly three different types of soil, the first of which consists of decomposed slate, which in turn rests on a clay base. This type of soil produces wines of groβer intensity, suitable for ageing in new oak äuβerst. The second type of soil is made up of decomposed granite, which is very abundant in the region. Table Mountain sandstone forms the third soil type. Sadie obtains Shiraz and Mourvèdre from numerous terroirs in the Voor Paardeberg district, Paarl. For his flagship wine Columella, Shiraz and Mourvèdre grapes from eight different vineyard sites are used in the exquisite blend. For his Palladius, Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne, Viognier, Clairette and Chardonnay are used for the creation. The Sadie Family, in partnership with Cornel Spies since 2003, has also produced the "Sequillo Cellars" label, which in certain Maβe The Sadie Family's more affordable wines.

The Sequillo Cellars label produces the Sequillo Red and Sequillo White, of which the Red includes Shiraz, Mourvedre and Grenache and the Weiβe is a composition of Chenin Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Roussanne.

The three wines produced by Sadie's Priorat vineyard in Spain called Terroir Al Límit include the Dits del Terra, Vi de Poble and Arbossar - all compositions of the Garnacha and Cariñena varieties. Sadie founded Terroir Al Límit in 2001 in collaboration with Dominik A. Huber in the Priorat wine region.

The Sadie Family is highly regarded and their success is higher than that of any other modern wine producer in South Africa. Sadies Columella is the highest rated South African wine and the only one ever to be awarded 95 points by the American wine magazine Wine Spectator. To justify the high sales price per bottle, the unusually high costs of producing this wine must be mentioned.