[1][2][3] Prior to his career as a winemaker, following a period as a surfer,[4][5] Eben Sadie traveled and worked in several of the world's wine regions, including Germany, Austria, Italy, Oregon and Burgundy.
[5][9] In defense of Columella's high retail price per bottle, Sadie states the wine is unusually costly to make.
Eben Sadie was also involved with Spanish wine producer Terroir Al Límit in the village of Torroja in Priorat, Catalonia.
Sadie sources Syrah and Mourvèdre from various terroirs located in the Voor-Paardeberg ward of the inland Paarl district,[10] in total 43 hectares (110 acres) covering 48 separate parcels.
After, grapes are hand-sorted, stored in open wooden vats, twice daily trampled for a month, and then moved by buckets to a traditional basket press.
There is also produced a bush-vine white varietal wine from Chenin blanc named Mrs Kirsten's Old Vines.