Dear Reader,
Today marks the official release of the 2022 vintage set of wines from the Swartland’s David and Nadia Sadie. In discussion about the set of wines, they share that a tremendous amount of energy and work went into both the vineyard and cellar in the 2022 vintage, rendering these wines their ”most intense release ever”. Everything that was poured back into the vineyards and the wines in the cellar, was all part of what David and Nadia refer to as ”our growing intention to create wines with purity from 100% dryland farmed bush vines grown in our beloved Swartland region.”
Overall, the average yield for David and Nadia for the 2022 vintage was lower than what they expected. They lost between 15-20% of fruit in some vineyards. This was due to the four consecutive heatwaves that the Swartland experienced at the start of 2022.
As was the case last year, David and Nadia have released eight wines for 2023. The Elpidios red blend remains a vintage behind and is from the 2021 vintage. Joining it as part of the David & Nadia Range, are the Chenin blanc, Aristargos white blend and Grenache noir. The four Chenin blancs from their Single Vineyard series continue to be made in minuscule quantities, and are therefore only available on allocation. Please speak to your Account Manager for details.
With this year’s set of wines, David and Nadia maintain, with real authority, their reputation as one of South Africa’s most revered wine producing forces.
2022|Chenin blanc|W.O. Swartland|R 410 per bottle
A blend of fruit from vineyards planted between 1968 and 1986 – a total of eight vineyards, nineteen different pickings, from across different soils and different aspects. The grapes were whole-bunch pressed and naturally fermented and then matured for 11 months in old neutral French oak barrels. Two components were fermented and matured in concrete (9% concrete in total) – one in a square concrete tank and the other in a concrete egg.
2022|Aristargos|W.O. Swartland|R 410 per bottle
A blend of Chenin blanc (47%), Sémillon (11%), Verdelho (9%), Clairette blanche (7%), Roussanne, (7%), Grenache blanc (6%), Marsanne (6%), Colombar (5%) and Viognier (2%) – from a total of 21 different vineyard sites and 28 separate pickings. There is a high proportion of old vine fruit in this wine, with some plantings dating back to 1960. The grapes were whole-bunch pressed and naturally fermented and then matured for 11 months in old French oak barrels. The grapes from the two Sémilllon vineyards were fermented on their skins for a week before being pressed and matured in a very old 2,500 litre foudre for a year. The Colombar was also fermented on the skins (for 5 days) and matured in old oak barrels. Two Chenin blanc components were fermented and matured in concrete vessels – one an egg, the other a square tank.
2022|Grenache noir|W.O. Swartland|R 410 per bottle
A blend of fruit from five vineyard sites, with the core vineyard situated in the Paardeberg that was planted in the early 2000s. The other vineyards are located in the Paardeberg’s Langkloof Valley, the Kasteelberg and a farm north of Malmesbury, respectively. Twelve separate pickings were done from the five sites. A component of 45% of the wine was fermented and matured in concrete. Juice was kept on the skins for four weeks before and during fermentation and 60% whole bunches were used. Grapes were punched down and pumped over during alcoholic fermentation, with a gentle extraction process in mind. The wine was pressed off and matured in old 500 litre French oak barrels and 2,700 litre concrete vessels for a year.
2021|Elpidios|W.O. Swartland|R 410 per bottle
Grenache continues to be at the heart of this blend, at 54%. The balance is made up of 31% Syrah, 13% Carignan and just 1% each of Pinotage and Cinsault. A total of eleven different vineyards comprise this red blend. The 2021 vintage continues to include a portion of wine that was fermented and matured in a concrete vessel – Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. Along with the concrete vessels, the wine was also matured in old 500 litre French oak barrels and a 4,100 litre foudre (for the Pinotage). The Elpidios is produced in a similar fashion to the main Grenache noir in terms of a long, gentle extraction, the use of around 40% whole bunches and then being pressed off. After bottling, the wine was aged in bottle for 18 months before release.
