Sadie Family : Skerpioen 2024

Characteristics and tasting notes of the 2024 Skerpioen by Sadie Family

Tasting

Colour
This white wine from South Africa displays a pale straw-gold hue, revealing silvery highlights with copper tones.

Nose
The aromatic bouquet opens with maritime notes of sea spray and oyster shells, mingled with hints of jasmine and wet stone. It then evolves towards aromas of fresh apricots, lemon cream, salted olives, sage and almonds.

Palate
The palate offers a creamy texture and a lovely fullness, supported by a linear acidity and a pronounced saline backbone. Flavours of waxy lemon, saffron and almonds come through. The finish reveals a characteristic waxy touch, underlining the maritime and mineral profile of this wine.

Food and wine pairing

This wine pairs perfectly with fresh oysters, scallops, mussels or langoustines. It also complements white fish with citrus, Mediterranean dishes prepared with olive oil, as well as cream sauce preparations or smoked fish.

Service and storage

The 2024 Skerpioen can be enjoyed now and will continue to evolve favourably until around 2038.

Other characteristics

This wine has an alcohol content of 13%. Bottled without fining or filtration, it may show a slight natural sediment.

The mineral purity of a white wine from Swartland by Sadie Family

The estate

Founded in 1999 by Eben Sadie with limited resources, Sadie Family has become a true institution in South Africa, located in the Western Cape region. Still led today by Eben Sadie, recently joined by his son Markus to ensure a smooth family transition, the estate stands out for its philosophy of terroir preservation and its minimal-intervention approach. The estate is dedicated to showcasing historic plots, thereby redefining the qualitative potential of South African wines around the world.

The vineyard

Grown on a 2.4-hectare plot located one to two kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, near St. Helena Bay in Swartland, this vineyard is made up of old vines planted in the gobelet style between 1958 and 1967. Nicknamed the "Mad Max" vineyard due to its extreme conditions (strong winds, intense sunshine, limited rainfall), it rests on a distinctive terroir combining beach sand with bright white limestone subsoils, giving the wine its signature salinity.

The vintage

The year's climatic conditions prompted the estate to harvest earlier than usual. This decision, driven by shifting weather patterns, helped preserve optimal freshness, a lovely acid balance and the plot's typical maritime character.

Winemaking and aging

After the berries were cooled, the 2024 Skerpioen underwent whole-bunch pressing. The juice was transferred directly into old wooden foudres of 1,500 to 3,000 litres. Alcoholic fermentation began spontaneously through indigenous yeasts and lasted around six months, without temperature control. The wine was then aged on its coarse lees for twelve months, encouraging the development of its texture.

Grape varieties

Chenin Blanc, Palomino.