Sadie Family

Sadie Family Wines remains a leader in organic farming in the South African landscape, focusing on old vines, some of which produce excruciatingly low yields, from meticulous managed vineyards. Eben Sadie, owner of Sadie Family Wines, has lived by a simple rule: to interfere with the wine as little as possible, allowing the wine’s natural essence to shine through, proudly displaying the subtleties of the vintage, so that their expressions of terroir and varietal purity may sing true with a sense of time and place. Not only does Sadie Family Wines put an emphasis on organic practices, Sadie himself is an invaluable mentor of organic practices, applications and philosophy. His genuine curiosity and love for his vines has driven him to continually sharpen his skillset over his career to make world-class wines by harmonizing with nature. He possesses the ability to understand and incorporate organic practices into his vineyards, which led him to plant unirrigated vineyards on his property in the middle of prolonged drought and still be successful—a challenge even for the most experienced vignerons in warm regions around the world like Swartland. When talking with Sadie, it’s clear that he cares for his vines like people care for their pets or loved ones—one can see the anguish in his eyes as he speaks about a recent drought and its effects on his vines. Simply put, he gets it and is in tune with Mother Nature and the vines. The winemaking practices and philosophies of Sadie Family Wines display delightful expressions, demonstrating amazing texture with mineral tension and depth of flavor typically reserved for the finest wines. Rightfully, confirming Sadie’s place in the history books, his outside-the-box thinking combined with a focus on organic farming practices allows Sadie Family Wines to understand the interconnected relationship between earth and vine.

After working in the USA, Spain, Germany, Italy and Austria, Eben Sadie and family founded Sadie Family Wines in 1999, with their first wine released the following year. With the success of their flagship red and white blends, Columella and Palladius, the family grew the number of bottle offerings to include the Old Vine Series. Sadie is unrelenting in his search for new vineyards — some appearing as if they were forgotten to time — to work with rare, old vines that possesses the ability make wines of extreme focus, purity and terroir expression. That level of commitment and thoughtfulness didn’t stop there. As the number of bottlings grew, the names for each wine honored their own unique story, which tied it back to their own genesis. At first glance, Sadie might appear subdued or happy-go-lucky, perhaps even daydreaming about surfing, but there is no doubt he has dedicated his life to understanding his vines to capture the utter magic he is able to create from his vines so precious to him. Through thoughtful viticultural practices such as organic farming, Sadie Family Wines continually thinks about the well-being of the vines and the diversity of microbiome under the soil, to harmonize with Mother Nature in order to make wines that are utterly delicious. The wines of Sadie Family are a defining example of top-quality wines that should be in every collector’s cellar.