Sadie Family Swartland Twiswind 2024

“Lovely aromatics to this white, showing mangosteen, lemon, sliced pears, wet stones and sea breeze on the nose. It’s very racy, saline, and mineral, with a medium body and fantastic energy. So much complexity and salty brightness. A blend of 12 varieties, co-planted in 2019. The first bottling of this wine from a windy site.” 96 points, JamesSuckling.com

“Twiswind – “to argue with the wind” in Afrikaans – is the maiden release of a brilliant field blend from a 1.4-hectare site planted as recently as 2019. Featuring a medley of Chenin Banc, Cinsault Blanc, Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Grillo, Marsanne, Palomino, Picpoul, Semillon and Vermentino, it’s like a who’s who of the Mediterranean, with lime, greengage, grapefruit, quinine and juniper flavours, thrilling acidity and a mineral core. 2027-32.” 95 points, Tim Atkin MW, South Africa Special Report 2025

Swartland. First release. Established in 2019, Sadie’s Twiswind vineyard sits on a south-western slope of the Paardeberg. The weathered granite on this site is very coarse and extremely well-drained on a rocky subsoil stratum. Sadie explains that this terroir “leads to the early ripening of this vineyard, with ample natural acidity at the time of picking and relatively low alcohol levels at full ripeness.” The name, “to argue against the wind,” refers to the very blowy nature of the site which stunts the vine’s growth and restricts yields to 30 hl/ha at best. The vineyard was picked in two stages, and the two components were fermented in an old wooden cask (first pick) and a concrete tank (second pick). After pressing and wild fermentation, the wine moved to concrete tanks and old oak vats, where it remained for 11 months on lees.

As with the neighbouring Sonvang vineyard (planted to red varieties), the concept behind this wine was to establish a single-vineyard site with grape varieties that will withstand Swartland’s changing climate and thrive into the future. Sadie has chosen varieties already adapted to preserving freshness in warm, dry Mediterranean climates: Vermentino, Piquepoul, Grenache Blanc, Cinsault Blanc, Palomino, Grillo, Assyrtiko, Verdelho and Clairette alongside Chenin Blanc, Marsanne, and Semillon. On the maiden release, Sadie notes that the wine “displays limey and zesty dynamics with fresh Granny Smith apple and peach skin aromas. The intense palate and textural aspects somehow dwarf the aromatics, as the wine is built up from the structural mouthfeel and tension of tannins.”

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