Badenhorst The 4th Rabbit Mezcal
Type: Mezcal
Country: South Africa
Region: Swartland
Viticulture: Natural Wine | Biodynamic | Certified Organic
Climate: Warm and dry summers, cool and damp winters
Distillation: The Agave plants are harvested by hand and cooked in a traditional stone-lined pit for 7 – 12 days. The cooked Agave is then fermented in wooden fermenting vats and then distilled in a copper pot still
Nose: Fruity, floral aromas of apple and pear eau de vie, floral honey and soft smoke fill the nose
Palate: The palate offers notes of honey, citrus, gentle smoke, earthy spice and vegetal agave
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.
