It is not every day that one gets an invite to the Sadie Family Wines tastings - so I accepted with alacrity. And it was a perfect sunny blue sky day to drive alongside the wheatfields to get to the Swartland-based winery. One could be fooled into thinking no wine is grown there. But after the very passionate and vocal Eben Sadie took us through a fascinating tasting of 11 wines, it is clear that not all the wines come from the area. Many are hand-picked vineyards, stretching from mid-town Stellenbosch (the famed Mev(rou) Kirsten) to blocks super close to the ocean, giving the Skerpioen (Chenin & Palomino blend) a very special oyster-shell mineral smack on the tongue. Many of the Sadie vineyards have various varieties interplanted, and the Mevrou Kirsten vineyard has plenty of the same variety but younger vines planted and interspersed, not something I have commonly seen. The Mevrou Kirsten block - a mere hectare (now belonging to Mrs Kirsten's children) is recognised as the oldest Chenin Blanc in South Africa, with the original vineyards planted 1905. We certainly hope that it does not get flattened by a residential development!Much research is still being done to get total clarity on the age of the vineyard and its plantings. The tasting was hosted in the freshly built new cellar and tasting room on the farm, and as Eben says - the "3,2,1 build! - it took 3 times as long, cost twice as much and you only ever do it once!"The cellar is impressive and has been designed to use the slope and gravity, and also houses a very long and beautiful storage facility for their older wines, which is already filling up fast.The kitchen is a focal point of the building as the entire staff eat lunch together daily - another of Eben's passions is to ensure that people connect. It was winemaker Paul Jordaan's last tasting for Sadie, as he is going to focus on his own wine project which now needs his undivided attention. As we know, succession planning takes time, but good to see Eben's son Marcus has joined the team, and he is still working at doing some vintages overseas to get more experience under the belt. My favourite wine (hard to choose as each one was sublime) was the very first wine on the list - the light and elegant Grenache - the Soldaat. As I mature, I prefer lighter style reds and this is just delicious! Will have to ensure it is on my list for next year's allocation.