Badenhorst Secateurs Chenin Blanc 2020
Type: White
Country: South Africa
Region: Swartland
Grape Variety: 100% Chenin Blanc
Viticulture: Natural Wine | Biodynamic | Certified Organic
Climate: Warm and dry summers, cool and damp winters
Terroir: Grapes come from organic vineyards from the farm itself and from neighbouring producers that work with the same philosophy. These are old vines lying north of the Paardeberg mountain and planted in granite soils
Winemaking: In the winery, the grapes spend the first night in cold stores and the next day they are pressed and allowed to ferment spontaneously for 20 days, with 25% doing so in old wooden foudres. Finally, all the wine ages on the lees for 7 months before being bottled
Color: Medium straw
Nose: Delicious aromas of ripe white fruit and herbaceous notes
Palate: On the palate it is unctuous, with a sweet fruit flavour and a vibrant acidity. The finish is dry and very persistent
About the Winery:
From three generations of winemaking stock, Adi Badenhorst was destined to be the best. Time in the Rhône, New Zealand and as a winemaker at Rustenberg polished his talent before he (along with his cousin) brought his humble vineyard in the Paardeberg complete with gnarled vines and a run-down winery. He is now one of the leading players in ‘The Swartland Revolution’, a group of pioneering young winemakers, including Eben Sadie, Chris Mullineux and Marc Kent, making wines from the amazing raw materials that are part of the Swartland’s grape-growing legacy – a legacy that dates back centuries.
There are few young winemakers in South Africa that haven’t benefitted from his mentorship. This furry-faced whirlwind can be such a big personality – one of those ‘force of nature’ types – that people forget just how brilliant a winemaker he actually is.
The winery is located on a mountain range which is a granite outcrop. Three distinctive types of granitic soil are found on this property—Paardeberg, Lammershoek and Lemoenfontein granites. The soils are extremely old and considered by many to be “low potential” as vine growth is not as luxuriant as in other areas. Yields are generally quite low, averaging 3–4 tons/ha for Chenin Blanc. No irrigation is used as the soils have the potential to store a good amount of water which slowly releases during the growing season. Rainfall is around 480mm a year, falling mainly in the winter months of May–August/September. Winters tend to be cold and wet, and leaf fall is quite sudden with the onset of Winter. Otherwise, the weather is pretty much Mediterranean.
