2023 Sadie Family Swartland Skerpioen
2023 Sadie Family Swartland Skerpioen

2023 Sadie Family Swartland Skerpioen

Highly Rated
Sadie Family Wines |Swartland |Palomino
A rare and distinctive coastal blend of Palomino and Chenin Blanc from 80-year-old vines, showcasing the saline intensity and unique terroir of Swartland’s sand and limestone soils.
Price:
$165.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

The 2023 Sadie Family Skerpioen is a uniquely compelling Swartland white, blending Palomino and Chenin Blanc from a remote, 80-year-old vineyard just 2 kilometres from the Atlantic. The site, aptly named after its scorpion-inhabited sandy and chalky soils, draws comparisons to the albarizas of Andalucía, making it one of the most distinctive terroirs in the Cape.

This coastal vineyard endures extreme dryness, receiving only 300mm of annual rainfall, which naturally limits yields and concentrates the fruit. The result is an intensely saline and mineral-driven wine that encapsulates its maritime origins. Grapes are hand-picked and co-fermented spontaneously in old wooden casks, crafting a wine of remarkable precision and texture. Eben Sadie notes the 2023 vintage as slightly softer in tannins and acidity compared to previous years, making it approachable earlier, while still retaining its characteristic depth and complexity.

A stunning expression of West Coast terroir, Skerpioen is both rare and highly sought-after, with only a handful of bottles available. Perfectly suited to seafood, especially oysters, this is a must-have for lovers of unique, site-specific wines.

97 points
"An intensely maritime West Coast cuvée with amazing focus, extract, and salinity... lemon zest, rock pools, almond, sourdough, and kelp, with a mouth-watering finish."
- Tim Atkin MW (South Africa Report 2024)

95 points
"A cool white blend that has lime peel, sliced apples, nectarines and fennel on the nose, followed by wet-stone minerality on the palate that only adds to the purity of fruit. It’s medium-bodied, with a salty freshness that pulls you back for more."
- Claire Nesbitt (James Suckling)

94 points
"Sadie's highest dry extract white... razor-sharp acidity, full of tension and salinity, leading to a divine, linear finish."
- Neal Martin (Vinous)

97 points - "I've been lucky enough to visit this vineyard, weaving through the sand dunes in a 4x4 to get there, so I know what a special, far flung place it is. Pairing equal amounts of Chenin Blanc and Palomino from rare limestone soils, this is an intensely maritime West Coast cuvée that has amazing focus, extract and salinity, with notes of lemon zest, rock pools, almond, sourdough bread and kelp, very little oak and a mouth-watering finish." - Tim Atkin MW (South Africa Report 2024)

95 points - "A cool white blend that has lime peel, sliced apples, nectarines and fennel on the nose, followed by wet-stone minerality on the palate that only adds to the purity of fruit. It’s medium-bodied, with a salty freshness that pulls you back for more. Equal parts chenin blanc and palomino, from a cool, dry area of west Swartland, two kilometers from the Atlantic. Drink or hold." - Claire Nesbitt (James Suckling)

94 points - "This has the highest dry extract of Sadie's whites. It has a fresh and vibrant nose: linseed oil, hints of yellow fruit and sea spray. The palate is founded upon a razor-sharp line of acidity, full of tension and salinity and very linear toward the finish. Divine." - Neal Martin (Vinous)

Swartland. Named after the abundant native scorpions that make their home here, Skerpioen is an unirrigated 2.4-hectare, 80-plus-year-old vineyard planted half to Palomino and half to Chenin Blanc. It’s just two kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean and overlooks Elands Bay. The soils are sandy and chalky, likened by Sadie to the white albarizas of Andalucía. It’s fitting, then, that half the vines are Palomino. This is also one of the coolest parts of Swartland—cool but also extremely dry, with an average rainfall of only about 300mm per year. Pictured above, Eben quips that “if Mad Max had a vineyard, this would be it”. The dryness naturally restricts the yields (the average is only 26 hl/ha) and concentrates the fruit, magnifying the saline intensity.

The grapes are picked and pressed together and co-ferment spontaneously in old wooden casks. The result is always a stunning, complex, unique white. “We suggest rushing off to buy oysters!” Eben says. “In respect to the 2023,” Eben also notes, “the tannins and the acidity are slightly softer than in the last two vintages, and this vintage could be savoured earlier as the balance and mouthfeel are already very balanced.”

Price Bracket $101 and Above
Type White
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Palomino
Country South Africa
Region Swartland
Feature High Score
Reviewed By James Suckling
Critic Score 97
94
95
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Cork

Sadie Family Wines

One of the tearaway producers of the revitalised Swartland wine scene, Sadie Family Wines has had an astronomical rise to fame on the international stage.

Owner and winemaker, Eben Sadie, first found acclaim under the banner of Terroir Al Limit where he was a co-founder alongside Dominik Huber. In the same way that Terroir Al Limit helped redefine what wine could taste like from Priorat in Spain, Sadie handles his family wines and vines with that same ruthless attention to detail.

These wines perfectly articulate a sense of place. Sadie's transparency in winemaking and obsessive farming practices reveal intense, tightly-wound wines with distinct personality. These are now some of South Africa's most keenly sought-after artisan wines. Worldwide allocations are minuscule and hotly contested. As little as a handful of bottles make it to Australia each year. Secure these rare birds while you can.

Eben Sadie in the vineyard Sadie Family Wines

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Just want to talk to someone?

Please don't ever hesitate - we would love to help! Whether it's a problem we can fix, a wine you're not 100% sure on or if you simply want to talk about wine, food and the meaning of life, we are here for you.

Call Us

02 8376 8775

Send a message

hello@differentdrop.com