Any well-informed observer of the Cape wine scene would readily mention in this context the name Sadie (rhymes with Hardy). It was the admirable Eben (pronounced 'earbin') Sadie who put Swartland, focus of new-wave Cape wine, on the international map with his Sadie Family bottlings.
But another Sadie is increasingly a force to be reckoned with. For obvious reasons, David Sadie does not use his surname for his magnificent range of Swartland wines. I first came across his wine four years ago in a Cotswold hotel that happens to be close to the home of the Cathay Pacific pilot who used to be his principal UK importer. A 2012 Grenache labelled simply David leapt out of the glass to land as a wine of the week. Refreshing Grenache is no longer a novelty now that we have a host from places such as the Gredos Mountains, McLaren Vale and the south of France, but in 2014 I described this Swartland wine as 'mould-breaking. Mineral somehow and beautifully balanced, even delicate. Not too sweet. Very appetising and clearly lovingly made. A triumph!'
When that wine was made, David and his soil-scientist wife Nadia were in full-time work elsewhere, making a tiny amount of wine in their spare time in rented space. The 2016 vintage was the first that saw them established in their own winery on the slopes of the Paardeberg, on what David describes as 'a lifestyle farm' owned jointly by a Norwegian and a local. They now have some of their own vineyards, and take fruit from others on the basis of a handshake, as is the way for the numerous young guns in Swartland.
Duncan Savage's annual run of exciting new releases continues and, boy, does this release really reach new heights. It will be a few months before they reach these shores and quantities will be limited. Expressions of interest or pre-orders welcome