2022 Rotsbank
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Tasting notes
New this year, the 2022 Old Vine Series Rotsbank made from Chenin Blanc offers a saline nose with ripe and nutty citrus blossom essences. Rotsbank, meaning “rock shelf” or “rock bench,” comes from a vineyard with very shallow soil. Light to medium-bodied, the palate is incredibly fresh with layers of complexity and is intensely cerebral. It will notably be an outlier of the Chenin Blanc range, offering the most mineral tension and expressive mouthfeel before it concludes with an almost neverending finish. Just under 7,000 bottles were filled. Keep an eye out for this beauty!
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
Now this is a stunningly complex and lively chenin blanc. So aromatically complex, with aromas of lemons, white miso, chamomile, fresh apricots, crushed rock and flint stone. So powerful yet elegant, medium- to full-bodied, with such length and continuation that it lasts for minutes. Salty towards the end. From bush vines planted in 1987. Fantastic already, but even better from 2025.
Chenin Blanc from Swartland – Paardeberg. 32 hl/ha. Ageing 12 months in foudre. Faintly smoky, burnt orange, lemon pepper and lime citrus aromas. Lovely tension across the palate, together with whiffs of white pear, evolving into slightly floral, zesty, saline notes on a remarkably persistent finish. (MF)
About the producer
Since he started making wine under his own name in 2000, Eben Sadie became a cult name in South Africa. The Swartland producer is best known for his flagship Columella and Palladius, but he also makes a range of whites and reds under the Old Vine Series, which became the District Series in 2025.