Secateurs Riviera, A.A. Badenhorst, 2022

A sensational skin-contact white from the Badenhorst duo this is bright and fresh like a white wine, but a little touch of extra texture and interest from the skins. Here, the whole bunches are loaded into the vat and the fermentation begins with the juice and the skins of the grape together, thereby giving a little extra weight, texture, and flavour to the wine.

This comes from a vineyard planted in the 70s on an old dry riverbed so they called it riviera to sound fancy and the wine is! Theres bags of character here, think grapefruit, pear, ginger and spice. Theres lovely weight to the palate, a tiny hint of tannin from the skins just giving some added complexity.  

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Adi Badenhorst is one of the super-stars of the new-wave of South African wine. Together with his Couisn, Hein, he owns a small 28 Hectare farm in Swartland on Paardeberg mountain. Adi is a true force of nature, and one of the most charismatic winemakers Ive ever met in a way these wines reflect their maker - bright, joyous, and full of character.

Swartland is a hot spot for talented young winemakers in South Africa. Drawn there by better land prices compared to the more famous Stellenbosch region, and a host of old vineyards with good age, producing small quantities of very-high quality fruit.

The Swartland region is hot, but what makes it unique is the mountain ranges that jut-out from the plains. This gives a cooling influence to the vineyards, especially at night, and enables the grapes to retain freshness. The soils on the Badenhorst farm are mainly granite, which for me always gives wines a sense of freshness and energy.

Farming here is fully organic, with a very soft touch in the cellar. Fermentations are all completed with wild yeast and the wines are matured in cement tanks and large old oak barrels, meaning the natural fruit character is always the star of the show without any influence from new wood barrels or winemaking gimmicks.