David & Nadia

David Sadie started his own winemaking project in 2010 while still working a day job in the Cape industry. The initial label was simply David, and the wines were made on rented cellar space at Paardebosch Farm, the same Paardeberg property where Andrea and Chris Mullineux had based the early Mullineux Wines project before relocating to their own Riebeek-Kasteel cellar. David Sadie shares his surname with Eben Sadie of Sadie Family Wines, the most internationally famous Swartland producer. The two are not related, though both descend from German-rooted Swartland farming lines that have been in the region since the eighteenth century. The shared surname has caused persistent confusion in the international wine press; tasting notes routinely have to clarify which Sadie is meant. The project relaunched as David & Nadia following David's marriage to Nadia Newton Johnson, a trained soil scientist. David quit his other employment to commit full-time in 2013, and Nadia joined the estate full-time in 2016. The estate today is run by the two of them as a small family operation, with most fruit drawn from Paardebosch itself and the remainder from contracted Swartland sites David has cultivated long-standing relationships with.

• David Sadie launched the project (initially as David) in 2010 on Paardebosch Farm; cellar previously housed Mullineux
• Relabeled as David & Nadia after David's marriage to soil-scientist Nadia Newton Johnson
• David committed full-time in 2013; Nadia in 2016
• David Sadie is not related to Eben Sadie of Sadie Family Wines despite the shared surname

Paardebosch Farm sits in the Paardeberg ward of the Swartland, in the warm, dry continental belt that has defined the modern Cape conversation around old-vine Chenin Blanc and Mediterranean reds. The estate works mainly with bush-vine plantings older than 35 years across a mosaic of soil types: decomposed granite on the Paardeberg slopes, shale and richer clay on the lower flanks, and patches of clay over limestone in particular sites. Nadia's soil-science background directly shapes the farming. The estate applies biological and organic practices across its plantings, with a focus on soil-microbiome health rather than on chemical inputs. Cover cropping, compost applications, minimal tillage, and careful canopy management are all standard. The goal is to keep the heritage old-vine plantings vigorous and productive without resorting to interventions that would compromise the soil life. The three single-vineyard Chenin Blanc bottlings each express a different soil type. Skaliekop draws on a site with shale and richer clays. Hoë-Steen comes from a clay-rich block with a limestone substrate. Plat'Bos is from decomposed-granite soils on a flat block. The contrast between the three is one of the cleanest soil-versus-soil comparisons available in South African Chenin Blanc.

• Paardebosch Farm in the Paardeberg ward; warm, dry continental Swartland climate
• Mosaic of soils: decomposed granite, shale/richer clay, clay over limestone in particular sites
• Biological and organic farming; soil-microbiome focus driven by Nadia's soil-science training
• Three single-vineyard Chenins: Skaliekop (shale/richer clay), Hoë-Steen (clay over limestone), Plat'Bos (decomposed granite)

The core white range opens with the entry Chenin Blanc, a blend across estate and contracted sites that sets the house style: high acidity, granite minerality, lees-driven texture, and orchard fruit precision. Aristargos is the multi-variety white blend, drawing on Chenin Blanc, Roussanne, Semillon, Viognier, Clairette, Chardonnay, and Verdelho in vintage-variable proportions; the wine is named for one of David and Nadia's children and showcases the producer's ability to integrate Mediterranean white varieties into a coherent Swartland statement. The three single-vineyard Chenin Blancs (Skaliekop, Hoë-Steen, Plat'Bos) are the producer's apex whites. Each is fermented with native yeasts and aged in older oak (typically 500-litre and 600-litre casks) with extensive lees contact. The differences between them are unmistakable: Skaliekop is the most savoury and stony, Hoë-Steen the densest and most chalky, Plat'Bos the most floral and citrus-driven. On the red side, David & Nadia produce a single-varietal Paardeberg Grenache from old bush vines and the Elpidios red blend (Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvèdre in vintage-variable proportions). Both are made with restraint: whole-cluster fermentation in many vintages, ageing in older oak, and a deliberately lifted, perfumed register that contrasts with the riper South African red norm.

• Core Chenin Blanc sets the high-acid, granite-mineral, lees-textured house style
• Aristargos: multi-variety Swartland white blend (Chenin, Roussanne, Semillon, Viognier, Clairette, with Chardonnay/Verdelho in some vintages)
• Apex Chenins: Skaliekop (savoury, stony), Hoë-Steen (dense, chalky), Plat'Bos (floral, citrus)
• Reds: single-varietal Paardeberg Grenache and Elpidios blend (Grenache/Syrah/Cinsault/Mourvèdre); restrained, perfumed register

Nadia's soil-science training is the project's intellectual centre. The farming programme is biological and organic, focused on the living soil community rather than on inputs alone. Cover crops, compost teas, and minimal-tillage techniques are deployed across the estate, with the explicit aim of supporting the old vines without pushing them. In the cellar, work is deliberately low-touch. Fruit is whole-cluster pressed (whites) or whole-cluster fermented (reds) where the vintage allows. Fermentations rely on indigenous yeasts. Wines age in older oak, typically 500-litre and 600-litre casks, alongside concrete vessels for the whites. There is minimal sulfur use, no fining, and minimal filtration. The resulting house style is precise rather than extracted: high acidity, mineral spine, savoury lift, and clear vineyard transparency. The combination of soil-driven farming, old-vine sourcing, and restrained winemaking has placed David & Nadia in the second wave of Swartland producers who built on the foundation laid by the Sadie Family, A.A. Badenhorst, Mullineux, and Lammershoek-era Testalonga.

• Biological and organic farming; soil-microbiome focus from Nadia's training
• Whole-cluster pressing (whites) and whole-cluster fermentation (reds) where vintage allows; indigenous yeasts
• Ageing in 500 L and 600 L old oak alongside concrete; minimal sulfur, no fining, minimal filtration
• Second-wave Swartland producer building on Sadie/Badenhorst/Mullineux/Lammershoek foundation

David & Nadia was named Young Winemakers of the Year by Tim Atkin MW in his 2020 South Africa Special Report, an award that cemented the producer's place in the international conversation. Atkin and other critics have consistently scored the single-vineyard Chenin Blancs in the upper nineties, and the producer is widely cited in features on the post-Revolution generation of Swartland winemakers. Neal Martin, Greg Sherwood MW, and Christian Eedes have all featured the producer prominently. The single-vineyard Chenin trilogy in particular is repeatedly cited as one of the cleanest soil-versus-soil comparisons in Cape white wine, useful both as a tasting exercise and as a statement of what bush-vine farming on the Paardeberg can express.

• Tim Atkin MW Young Winemakers of the Year, 2020 South Africa Special Report
• Single-vineyard Chenin Blancs (Skaliekop, Hoë-Steen, Plat'Bos) consistently score in the upper nineties
• Repeatedly cited as one of the cleanest soil-versus-soil Chenin Blanc comparisons in the Cape
• Recognised by Neal Martin, Greg Sherwood MW, and Christian Eedes among others

David & Nadia represent the second wave of the Swartland conversation: the generation who arrived after the Sadie/Mullineux/Badenhorst foundation had already established the Paardeberg as serious territory, and who built single-site, soil-focused projects in that opened space. Their three single-vineyard Chenins demonstrate, more clearly than almost any other Cape producer, that soil type is the dominant variable in old-vine Chenin Blanc expression on the Paardeberg. For students of South African wine, David & Nadia is essential context for three reasons. First, the Skaliekop/Hoë-Steen/Plat'Bos trio is the cleanest soil-comparison study available in Cape white wine. Second, the soil-science-led farming model (driven by Nadia's training) demonstrates how scientific vineyard understanding can integrate with biological and organic practice. Third, the producer is one of the clearest demonstrations that the post-Revolution generation can build internationally recognised projects on the Swartland's old-vine foundation.

• Second-wave Swartland producer building on the Sadie/Mullineux/Badenhorst foundation
• Single-vineyard Chenin trilogy is the cleanest soil-comparison study in Cape white wine
• Soil-science-led farming model integrates scientific vineyard understanding with biological and organic practice
• Internationally recognised young Cape producer; useful reference for post-Revolution Swartland generation