The Sadie Family Rotsbank 2024

This cuvée comes from the Paardeberg, in the Swartland, north of Cape Town. The Rotsbank vineyard is planted in the Aprilskloof, on a granite slab that often offers only 30 to 50 centimetres of soil. The roots work their way into the cracks in the rock, under a hot, dry climate where temperatures often exceed 35 °C, which limits vigour and concentrates the berries.

The grapes are picked by hand, then placed in a cold room to bring their temperature down. They are whole-bunch pressed for around three hours, then the juice is transferred to two old foudres, where it ferments with its native yeasts. The wine stays on its fermentation lees for 12 months, without racking, before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

This wine reveals notes of gunflint, seaweed, passion fruit, grapefruit, lemon, oyster shell, green tea and white flowers. Mineral and briny notes open the bouquet, followed by discreet exotic fruit. The palate is linear and firm, carried by a taut acidity, a slight tannic grip and a dry finish of great length.

The first vines were planted in South Africa by Dutch settlers in the 1650s, although wine production did not really begin to take off until the arrival of French Protestants, in the 1680s, with their skills and their knowledge of viticulture. Stellenbosch is also a historic wine region, with the first vineyards being planted there in the 1690s.



Today South Africa is one of the most important wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere. With over 300 years of winemaking history, it is often described as a bridge between the Old and New Worlds. The majority of wines are produced using New World winemaking techniques, but they often have more in common stylistically with their Old World counterparts. Since the end of apartheid, South African wine has received international attention and acclaim for its wide variety of styles.



South Africa's wine industry is spread across the lush and rugged landscape of the Western Cape. Here, the abundance of mountains, valleys and plateaus allows winemakers to produce a wide variety of styles. Vineyards can also be found in the Orange River region of the Northern Cape, where the flat, arid landscape is dominated by the Kalahari Desert. Most of South Africa's wine regions have a Mediterranean climate, strongly influenced by the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.



The country's signature grape variety is Pinotage, an indigenous cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsaut that is rarely found in quantity in other wine-producing countries. Shiraz (Syrah) is also widely planted, as are Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot (often combined in a Bordeaux blend). South African Chardonnay, Chenin and Sauvignon Blanc have become popular internationally in recent years.