Professional Ratings

• 96 James Suckling
  A wonderfully textural and waxy semillon that has aromas and flavors of beeswax, lime peel, juniper berries and thyme, as well as a hint of orange blossom. It’s full-bodied but remarkably fresh and lively. With a long life ahead, for now it’s focused on the limey and wild-herb freshness. Drink or hold.
• 95 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  Named after the South African quiver tree that looks like a giant succulent from a Jurassic age, The Sadie Family's 2023 Citrusdal Mountain Old Vine Series Kokerboom is a blend of Semillon Blanc and the pink-hued Semillon Gris from vines dating back to the first half of the 1900s. This wine, as you would expect, has a weighty feel, lots of volume and a viscous texture, but it stops short of feeling too heavy or cloying. Fruit ripens easily in this location given the high solar radiation. In fact, there is a lot of energy here, despite the waxy sensations and the unruly intensity that comes forth as petroleum jelly, honey, saffron and apricot. It ages in an old foudre for 12 months, like most of the whites in this portfolio, and grapes come from a site with weathered Table Mountain sandstone and a high iron content. Given the remote location of this vineyard, it takes four hours to drive the harvested grapes back to the winery. When they arrive in the evening, they are put into a cold room for the night.
• 93 Vinous
  The 2023 Kokerboom is a blend of co-planted Sémillon Blanc and Gris on sandstone with shale and silt—Sadie’s most northerly parcel in the Cape. Yellow plum and light waxy scents slowly emerge the nose; this is another 2023 that takes time to open in the glass, with just a hint of star anise in the background. Fresh and tensile, the palate is well balanced with citric notes of bitter lemon and orange rind, leading to another strict and linear finish that lingers in the mouth. Very fine.