Whoa nelly! This old vine Chenin Blanc out of Swartland represents outstanding value. Flavours are concentrated and pure no doubt thanks to the dry-grown 60-70 year old bush vines. Give it a bit of air, and behold acacias, honey aromas followed by crunchy golden apple, and zest with a bit of lemon curd and toasted almonds on the palate – all these notes crescendo before finishing long and crisp. Try some.

A.A. Badenhorst wines are grown and made at the Kalmoesfontein farm in Swartland, South Africa. The vineyards, planted in the 1950s and 1960s, boast mostly old bush vines of Chenin Blanc, Cinsault, and Grenache, covering 180ha. These vines are cultivated using organic practices. The soils in this area exhibit three distinct types of granite, including Paardeberg, Lammershoek, and Lemoenfontein, with sub-surface geologies like clay, weathered granite, and shale… All the right ingredients for biological farming and completely unirrigated vines! Winemaking is done the old way. All fruit undergoes whole bunch-handling, without crushing or destemming. White grapes are directly transferred to old casks or concrete tanks for fermentation and aging. Red grapes are fermented in concrete tanks and open wooden kuipe, followed by a lengthy post-fermentation maceration of up to 4 months. The wines are then aged in old casks or 4000L foudres. The inspiration behind these natural winemaking practices lies in the grand old wines of South Africa and the lesser-known varietals that were once cherished before modern methods and commercialisation altered the purity of wines.