A. A. Badenhorst Family Wines: Stories

Andre Adriaan Badenhorst’s grandfather was the general manager at Groot Constantia for 46 years. His father was born there. Adi grew up between the vineyards and spent his time picking (stealing) grapes. He made his first wine with Jean Daneel at thirteen. Adi studied at Elsenburg and went on the work harvest at Chateau Angelus & Alain Graillot in France, Wither Hills in NZ, and locally at Simonsig, Steenberg & Groote Post. He spent nine years as winemaker at the esteemed Stellenbosch estate, Rustenberg. In 2008, Adi and his cousin Hein purchased Kalmoesfontein farm in the Paardeberg area in Swartland, South Africa. Together they restored a cellar that had been neglected since the 1930’s, where they now make natural wines in the traditional manner. Adi Badenhorst is an award winning winemaker, member of the Cape Winemakers Guild, founding member of the Swartland Revolution and Swartland Independent and an ever evolving vigneron.

Year Founded: 2008

Proprietors: The handsome cousins, Hein and Adi Badenhorst

Winemaker: Adi Badenhorst

Size of property: 60 ha (148.5 acres) total, 25 ha (62 acres) planted

Terroir: 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 and slowly release 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.

Annual Production: 10,000 cases

Varieties Cultivated:
White: Roussane, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Chenin Blanc & Sauvignon Banc
Red: Shiraz, Mourvedre and Cinsault.

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