- 2027 will be my final vintage, Eben Sadie said in an interview with Jancis Robinson this summer. It marks the end of an extremely dynamic era and evolution when it comes to winemaking in the Swartland region and South Africa.
Eben Sadie deserves much of the credit for the eastern Swartland wine region, near the border with neighboring Namibia, having established itself as one of the most quality-driven wine regions in all of South Africa. His first vintage under Sadie Family Wines was the 2000 vintage, and with the wine Columella, named after the Roman wine writer of the same name, Sadie already then showed his level of ambition. The wines have changed style several times since the first vintage. From oaky, rich and somewhat noticeably extracted, to reductive, volatile and closed. The last few vintages they have been better than ever. With a slender and refined, stony, alcohol-moderate style that few in the country can match. This year's release, which is mainly 2025, with two exceptions from 2024, has a bit of everything.
Sadie has just finished building the family's new underground wine cellar, which has taken three years and kept him at home for a corresponding period of time. And he can report that the 2025 vintage is one of the truly great years, not only in Swartland, but nationally throughout the entire country.
But what was it that made this vintage so exceptional? - We started with an incredible winter; the rainfall amounts not only reached – and exceeded – the regional average, but both the frequency and intensity of the rain also ensured that the soil was completely saturated. The winter lasted longer, and we had rain well into the spring, which meant we could enter the growing season with far greater water reserves. Harvest began on January 21 and was completed on March 5, 2025. Throughout the entire season the fruit radiated outstanding quality. The 2025 wine bears witness to a class of its own, with a consistent balance and self-assurance, Sadie writes about the vintage.
South Africa's largest wine region, Swartland, lies between three large mountains, with great geological variation. It was also here that the retired surfer Eben Sadie established his own winery in 1999, after having been responsible for Fairview's wine project in the region the previous year, at the age of 26. Eight years later he was joined by other producers who shared the same view on winemaking in Swartland. Among them Andrea and Chris Mullineux, Craig Hawkins, and David Sadie and Nadia Newton Johnson, the latter as recently as 2013. All young, visionary winemakers, and what they have in common is that it is about cultivating the region's identity through soil, grape variety and vinification techniques. Sadie today has 24 hectares of vineyards spread across 54 different small plots. His favorite grapes are cinsault and grenache, and he was among the first to bring them to the fore in South Africa. Now several have followed suit, and red wines made from these previously forgotten grapes can be found everywhere. In addition is his signature chenin blanc from older "bush vines" and biodynamic cultivation of all the vineyards.
Next year his son Markus, 28, will take over. He entered the wine industry at 18 when he began working with his neighbor Adi Badenhorst, one of the country's most famous winemakers. He returned to Swartland three years ago, after a long stint at wineries around the world. Roagna in Piedmont, Le Pin and Vieux Château Certan in Pomerol, Les Carmes Haut-Brion in Pessac and Noemía in Patagonia, with a stay in Austria along the way. He brings with him his American wife Jessica Neal from the vineyard company Jack Neal & Son in Napa, California. So the future at Sadie is secured, according to Eben Sadie himself.
On Wednesday, the entire range of Eben Sadie's wines will be released in Vinmonopolet's special order selection. That means you can order them by calling Vinmonopolet's customer service or by stopping by your local Pol.
