Greg Sherwood MW: Eben Sadie re-interprets Chardonnay and Pinotage

With so many wine writer column centimetres currently being dedicated to the rise of premium Chenin Blanc in South Africa, it naturally follows that perhaps we should also be considering what other cultivars being produced are also joining the race to the top in terms of reputation as well as pricing and regional terroir messaging. South Africa’s winelands are of course blessed with a wealth of successful cultivars that are now, more clearly than ever, being matched to specific regions in the pursuit of quality and site specificity. But will consumers around the world be as receptive to new regional wines made from Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinotage or Pinot Noir as they currently are to Chenin Blanc?

Over the past few months alone in the UK, we have seen the release of both Eben Sadie and Chris Alheit’s new highly anticipated 2023 releases, both of which have set the private client allocation market alight with a frenzied energy that has most definitely been lacking in the wider fine wine market since the end of 2023. Of course, new releases like the recent launch of the MR de Compostella 2022 red blend and the MR Vesperi 2023 white blend have also played an important part in reinvigorating fine wine sales, but it is undoubtedly the whites, and more specifically old vine Chenin Blancs, from our most highly regarded producers, that have stolen the new release headlines.

Interestingly, the newly released Fogwell Syrah 2023, that was recently review on Winemag, seemed to pass slightly unnoticed in the UK market despite being produced by one of the Cape’s top winemaking talents, Chris Alheit. With the fairly substantial score for this new wine now reverberating around the market, consumer interest does clearly seem to have been belatedly peaked, and consumers are now scurrying around merchants trying to track down meagre allocations of this wine. But the question still remains, would this wine have passed so many fine wine buyers by if it had been a new maiden release of another old vine Chenin Blanc?

Surely, the new releases of the Voëlvry Wines from Sadie Family Wines will go a long way in answering my above question. With a big new wine cellar now fully commissioned, it was perhaps inevitable that Eben Sadie would start to expand his production scope and ambitions once again. With three interesting new wines released, the public appetite for new non-Chenin cultivars wines is going to be tested.

The word Voëlvry means “free as a bird” and, in some contexts, might mean “outlaw”, but in this case represents the Sadie Family Wine’s new exploration and curiosity in producing new wines ‘made from specific parcels of vines or from specific aspects of the South African landscape’ that Eben may encounter, to be bottled in small boutique quantities. Also quite uniquely, the first releases from this new project, are a Chardonnay from Robertson and a Pinotage and Grenache Rosé from the Swartland, sold as a mixed case collection, featuring 1 x 2021 Robertson Chardonnay, 2 x 2022 Swartland Pinotage, and 3 x 2023 Swartland Rosé, apparently packed ‘according to the production volumes.’

I was fortunate enough to encounter both the Chardonnay and the Pinotage recently and was fairly impressed with both the expression and quality of these two new wines. It is a commonly known fact that some of the best Chardonnay bottlings in the world come from vineyards planted on calcareous soils with a high level of limestone and chalk. But if you speak to any Chardonnay producer in South Africa, you will soon realise that this specific soil type matched with the correct terroir and aspect, is indeed a rarity. However, some of the more significantly positioned limestone sites are to be found in Robertson, which is also a reason for the sizable quantity of premium Cap Classic that derives from this region.

According to Eben, the Chardonnay grapes were whole cluster basket-pressed with a short settling and fermented in older Burgundian casks. After primary fermentation, the wines were left on their lees for 11 months to produce a fuller style of Chardonnay while retaining an underlying freshness. In the glass, the wine does indeed speak with an authoritative voice of stony minerality and vibrancy, being compact, linear and yellow citrus fruit driven with just the most subtle hints of a fine leesy, biscuity savoury note on the finish. Very lightly oaked, this wine does indeed remind me of several previous youthful Chardonnays I have drunk recently from the Weltevrede Estate owned by the Chardonnay focused Jonker family in Robertson. A very impressive wine that will undoubtedly improve with time in bottle, earning a very solid 94+/100 from me.

As for the Pinotage, well, it is a somewhat poorly kept secret that Eben has for a long time harboured a strange kind of fetish for this home-grown cultivar, and if his previous forays into producing Pinotage are anything to go by, this Voëlvry cuvée would also hold a lot of interest. As Eben says, ‘Pinotage in South Africa has had a turbulent ride. Initially, the wine producers needed to learn how to vinify the wines correctly. Then, a combination of our nation bashing the image of Pinotage and the general misinterpretation of the grape variety led to some of its popularity plummeting.’

He continues, ‘however, several incredible producers pushed forward, and today, an array of fantastic examples is produced. Our interpretation of the grape is not an extracted style nor an under-extracted style, but rather the grape just sitting comfortably with moderate extraction at a 13% alcohol in the bottle.’

I was fortunate to have been involved with the activities of the Cape Wine Auction Charity on and off over the years, and in 2019, I was privileged to be invited to be their Honorary Global Fine Wine Ambassador, attending this special event that in this year helped raise over R17 million rand for 25 well-deserving wine land children’s charities. One of the special lots sold at the auction in 2019 was a super rare parcel comprising of two barrels worth of Pinotage, one made by Hamilton Russell winemaker Emul Ross from Ashbourne Winery fruit, and the other made by Swartland rock star himself, yes, Eben Sadie, with fruit from the same vineyard at Ashbourne. Each wine was vinified in their own home cellars without the two winemakers liaising or comparing notes. In fact, after harvest, the first time the two spoke together again was around two months later and neither tasted the others wine until the actual day of the auction.

The two-barrel 2018 vintage auction lot was bottled and labelled and offered exclusively at the 2019 Cape Wine Auction, which in the end, after frenzied bidding, raised R1m and was divided between four bidding parties, with each paying R250,000 for just over 150 bottles, the equivalent of just under R2000 per bottle. Here is my note on this interesting Pinotage that unbeknownst to everyone, would be the early harbinger for Eben’s Voëlvry Pinotage 2022.

Man & Soil Sadie Family Wines Pinotage 2018, WO Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, 13.5 Abv.

Incredibly, this wine shows an earthy musky Swartland perfume and fragrance that is certainly not just in my subconscious. There are seductive notes of fresh potpourri, crushed rose petals, Jasmin and Iris blossom melting into su- raisined cranberry, damson plum and pink musk complexity. The palate shows a softer, rounder, riper more generous fleshy accessibility that reaches all corners of the mouth and washes over the tastebuds in waves of sweet earthy savoury black plums, loganberry and earthy red currant complexity. Plush and seductive without lacking any structure, this wine exhibits all the fabulous Sadie X factor that has made his other wines so famous! (95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)

But what of Eben’s latest 2022 Pinotage creation, this time made with Swartland grapes? Like the Chardonnay, it is very compact and polished, showing a fine density of dark berry brambly fruit with some telltale Swartland earthiness and minerality. The extraction is pinpoint and the balance very harmonious, with the flavours and styling tending towards a more new wave, Pinot Noir’ish example of Pinotage that have been made by winemakers such as Eben’s namesake, David Sadie. While the wine does not possess quite the wow factor of the Voëlvry Chardonnay, it is an accomplished Pinotage that will undoubtedly go a very long way in introducing a new legion of global fine wine lovers to the delights of this uniquely South African cultivar. 93/100 points from me.

Sadly, I did not get to taste the Grenache Rosé 2023, which will no doubt evaporate in the heat of the coming South African summer quicker than a rain puddle in the Namib desert. But based on the quality of the other two wines, and of course Eben’s rock star cult status, you can be guaranteed of another very fine wine indeed. As always, exciting times at the Sadie Family winery.

• Greg Sherwood was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and as the son of a career diplomat, spent his first 21 years traveling the globe with his parents. With a Business Management and Marketing degree from Webster University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Sherwood began his working career as a commodity trader. In 2000, he decided to make more of a long-held interest in wine taking a position at Handford Wines in South Kensington, London, working his way up to the position of Senior Wine Buyer over 22 years. Sherwood currently consults to a number of top fine wine merchants in London while always keeping one eye firmly on the South African wine industry. He qualified as the 303rd Master of Wine in 2007.