2023 Skurfberg

Last year, Eben Sadie walked me through his winery, which was basically just four walls and half a roof. Twelve months and a lot of sleepless nights later, the finishing touches are being applied. Wow, it’s impressive. Every last detail has been considered in terms of functionality, aesthetics and sustainability. In the upstairs tasting room, you find a fully-equipped kitchen that most restaurants can only dream about, though Sadie has no plans to open one. It’s for his workers. Indeed, he stressed the importance of hiring local skilled labor. Downstairs, I walked through the vat room that has a high-ceilinged, cathedral-like design. All that’s missing is a stained-glass window. In Bordeaux, this would not look out of place, but in Swartland, it is a statement that is a testament to everything Sadie has achieved. It is concurrent with a turning of the page as his two sons, Markus and Xander, take increasing roles in the estate’s running. The 2023s, the last to be vinified in the old cellar, were on show. I asked Sadie his views on the growing season.

“We used to pick over two months, but we now pick over 4 to 5 weeks,” Sadie explained. “Everything got massively compressed, but the new cellar gives us a logistical advantage. The 2023 and 2024 vintages have been difficult because of that compression. We are struggling with an absence of proper spring. Our summers start late, and picking dates [for each of the vineyards around the Cape] are around the same time. So, there's three weeks less hang time that affects early ripening more than late-ripening grapes because the acid breaks down much quicker and can end up with 0.75% more alcohol unless you have no acid left. Potassium take-up in grapes is much greater, so since 2015, we have started de-stemming a lot more [since the stems hold potassium that reduces acidity]. Our major consideration is to be able to plant new varieties, and so we are interplanting around 15% of the area with varieties that have higher acid retention, such as Colombard, Petit Manseng and Grillo.”

There is no point in analyzing every wine, as my euphoric tasting notes express how impressive his 2023 is. But I must mention the second vintage of his Chenin Blanc, the 2023 Rotsbank, which sent tingles down my spine with its nascent energy and complexity. Also, his white blend Palladius, the 2022 vintage, is the wine that Eben said he had always wanted to make and certainly the best that I have tasted.