In April, I met with Eben Sadie, winemaker for the Sadie Family, at a wine presentation he was giving at the AquaKnox in Las Vegas. At this wine tasting, Eben presented his new South African wine and Spanish wine releases.

For those of you who are not familiar with Eben Sadie, he grows and makes most of his wine naturally. His wine growing practices incorporate self-sustained viticulture (no watering). He uses mules to plow his vineyards, and he handpicks all the grapes. Additionally, he does not use sulfates to make wine. Eben believes that the most important component in wine making is the grape itself; everything else is secondary.

That’s enough for the introduction; now let’s discuss the wines.

Wine Reviews and Wine Tasting Notes: Sadie Family Wines

The following are my wine reviews of and wine tasting notes on three Sadie Family wines, specifically two South African red wines and one Spanish red wine.

Sequillo 2005

South African red wine from the Swartland region Made from a blend of Syrah (68%), Mourvèdre (26%) and Grenache (6%)

Wine tasting notes: This wine has a bright, deep ruby color. It resembles a Rhone wine from the Vacqueyras region, and it has the aromas of cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry, prune, thyme, leather, and cedar. Some minerality with acidity on the plus side.

This wine is elegant and has a surprisingly smooth finish considering the fact that I was expecting it to be much more tannic.

Columella 2005

South African red wine from the Swartland region Made from a [glossary] blend of Syrah (80%) and Mourvèdre (20%)

All grapes are berry selected!

Wine tasting notes: A dark ruby/purple color is characteristic of this red wine. It has the aromas of blackcurrant, morello cherry, prune, cedar or wood box cigar, tobacco, leather, and an herbal note (maybe eucalyptus). Some minerality, medium acidity and tannins on the plus side.

This wine should age beautifully. Note that this is the only South African wine to ever get 95 points on WS (Wine Spectator).

Terroir Al Limit 2005

Spanish red wine from the Priorat region Made from a blend of Carignan and Grenache varietals.

Wine tasting notes: This wine has the aromas of young red fruits (e.g. raspberry and redcurrant), Mon Cheri (liquor-infused cherry covered with chocolate), dark chocolate, prune, and smoke with a hint of woody spice. This is a well-structured wine; it has good balance.

That’s all for this wine tasting. Do watch out for my next blog post, which will be about Domaine Dujac and Jeremy Seysses visit to Deluca Liquor & Wine.

Cheers!