“Here he goes again – banging on about how grape blends are soooo much more interesting than single varietals… he’ll be raving over some South African wines next, I’ll bet”

“Yeh, repeating himself again. You wait he’ll pick on some wine-maker with ‘character’ and imply that being a maverick or whatever can only influence the wine in a good way!”

“Better than moaning about a perfume-doused floosy at a tasting out smelling the wines”

“or a cigar-chomping lard-arse hogging the spittoon”

Three quick recommendations sampled at a trade tasting (SITT 2010 held in Vinopolis last February). They are from the A A Badenhorst stable, a project by Adi Badenhorst one of “the Cape’s more colourful characters”. After a series of vintages at Rustenberg, Adi set up, with a cousin, this new estate building on vineyards and facilities last used in the 1930′s. The old vines are unirrigated, farmed and made into wine with as little intervention as possible. Adi was at the tasting, perched on the end of the Swig table, looking hot and tired but mercifully near the open door for some cool air. A wild hair cut, a slight manic gleam to the eye and as you spied his wines he was round the front of the table pouring and enthusing…

Can’t say the labelling does anything for me. Bottle pictures from the estates website (which is in need of an update!).

A A Badenhorst Secateurs White, 2009, Swartland, South Africa.
Swig £8.50 [Adegga / Snooth]
Complexity in droves. Chenin Blanc forming 14% of the blend. “coming together nicely, will age beautifully” said Adi.
Andrew BarrowScribblings Rating – 92/100 [4 out of 5]