2025 SECATEURS CHENIN BLANC

TRY ME IF YOU LOVE: Unoaked Chardonnay

ABV: 13.5%

GRAPES: 100% Chenin Blanc

TASTING NOTES: Opens with flinty, smoky aromas and fruit notes of honey, orange blossom, nectarine, and pear, while the palate is rich and creamy with a medium-to-full body, zippy acidity, and flavours of ripe apple, peach, and pink grapefruit, finishing long and fresh.

PAIRS WITH: Great with roast chicken or pork. Or try with a rich fish pie, a citrus-dressed salad or roasted fennel. 

SERVE ME: Chilled, pop in the fridge for a couple of hours

Neal Martin describes Adi Badenhorst as someone who “epitomises the carefree spirit that pervades the [Swartland] region”, a phrase that still doesn’t do justice to a man whose personality is as characterful as the wines he makes. Founding A.A. Badenhorst Family Wines in the Paardeberg with his cousin Hein in 2008, Adi champions attentive farming and minimal intervention winemaking to convey an authentic expression of the Swartland in his wines.

Adi grew up on a wine farm in Constantia and made his first wine at thirteen. After studying oenology at Elsenberg, he worked harvests at Château Angelus and Alain Graillot, before returning to South Africa. Following nine years as winemaker at the Rustenburg Estate in Stellenbosch, Adi was captivated by a rundown farm on the northern side of the Swartland’s Paardeberg Mountain. “The mountain has texture and slopes. You know those grapes can make interesting wines”, he explains. Today, that old farm forms Kalmoesfontein, where A.A. Badenhorst are based.