Secateurs Chenin Blanc

Soft cheeses, poultry, shellfish, and richer white fish dishes.

The Chenin Blanc grapes are sourced from the Kalmoesfontein and Jakkalsfontein farms, located on the northern slopes of the Paardeberg Mountain in the Swartland region. The vineyards consist of bush-trained vines planted in the 1960s and 1970s, rooted in soils of decomposed granite, clay and weathered shale. The combination of old vine material, unirrigated farming and the Paardeberg’s granite-based terroir contributes to the wine’s concentration and minerality.

The 2025 vintage is aged for ten months on gross lees in a combination of old casks and large foudres before bottling. The seasoned oak vessels do not impart overt oak flavour but contribute to mouthfeel and complexity through gentle oxygen exchange.

All grapes are hand harvested and chilled overnight before processing. They are whole-bunch pressed and the juice from each day’s pick is added to the fermenting tanks over a 12-day harvest period. Fermentation is spontaneous using native yeasts, with approximately a quarter of the wine fermented in seasoned casks and large foudres. The wine is matured for ten months on its gross lees with occasional stirring, adding texture and complexity before bottling.

AA Badenhorst Family Wines are grown, made and matured on Kalmoesfontein farm in the Swartland appellation of South Africa. 28ha of old bushvines grow in the Siebritskloof part of the Paardeberg mountain. The property is owned by the baie dynamic and good looking cousins Hein and Adi Badenhorst. They are originally from Constantia. Their grandfather was the farm manager of Groot Constantia for 46 years. Their fathers were born there and farmed together in Constantia, during the days when people still ate fresh vegetables and Hanepoot grapes, drank Cinsault and there were a lot less traffic lights and hippies still had a presence. Together these two have restored a neglected cellar on the farm that was last used in the 1930′s to make natural wines in the traditional manner.