2019 Sadie Family 'Columella" Swartland Syrah Blend

South Africa has been known for a number of iconic wines throughout the years, but it wasn't until Eben Sadie that the country found its first cult winemaker. Sadie gained notoriety at the winery Spice Route in the 1990s. His work there brought him international attention and established his reputation as one of the country's up and coming winemakers. Sadie is a native South African, and his true passion is showing the world what South Africa's vineyards are capable of, so after leaving Spice Route he turned his focus to revitalizing the old vines of Swartland. He established his family winery after studying in Burgundy. Inspired by the great terroir specific wines of France, he produced the first vintage of his benchmark red wine "Columella" in 1999, with a focus on making a truly terroir driven wine reflecting the diverse soils of Swartland.

Columella has always been a Rhône inspired blend, composed mostly of Syrah with varying proportions of old vine Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Carignan Grenache, and Tinta Barroca. The amount of new oak and destemming also varies with the vintage, and tends to be judicious. The 2019 vintage is the 20th release of "Columella."  The blend is composed of over 90% Syrah, and grapes are 50% destemmed with 10% new oak. This wine is meant to age and should be mentioned in the same conversations as the great red wines of the Rhône, Bordeaux, and Burgundy.  - KER