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Buy any 12 bottles and save 10% (excludes wines on offer). Free UK delivery on orders over £100. Tel: 02922 337454
Buy any 12 bottles and save 10% (excludes wines on offer). Free UK delivery on orders over £100. Tel: 02922 337454
2025 Secateurs Chenin Blanc, AA Badenhorst Family Wines Wine Republic

2025 Secateurs Chenin Blanc, AA Badenhorst Family Wines

Swartland, South Africa

Sunshine on granite with a salty little wink.

This is Chenin with that glorious Swartland swagger, textured, bright and far more serious than its easy charm first suggests. The 2025 opens with flinty aromas of honey, orange blossom and white stone fruit, then moves into a palate that feels beautifully layered, all citrusy lift, gentle weight and a fine salty-mineral thread running through the middle. There is lovely concentration here, a hallmark of the vintage, but it never tips into heaviness. Instead, it feels poised and energetic, with vibrant acidity and a long, mouthwatering finish that keeps everything taut, fresh and irresistibly moreish. Fermentation and ageing in concrete and old casks help give the wine its lovely texture without masking that bright, stony Swartland character.

For when: lunch drifts into the afternoon, and no one is in any rush to leave.
Pairs with: roast chicken, grilled prawns, creamy fish pie, pork belly, or a big salty bowl of crispy potatoes.
If this wine were a person: barefoot, sun-kissed, effortlessly charming, and far more interesting than first impressions suggest.

Adi Badenhorst has become one of the defining names of the Swartland, farming old bush vines on the slopes of the Paardeberg and making wines that feel full of place, personality and life. Secateurs Chenin is drawn from multiple parcels in and around the Paardeberg, largely from dry-farmed bush vines rooted in decomposed granite soils, which is exactly where that lovely mix of texture, fragrance and mineral tension comes from. The 2025 vintage benefited from good winter rainfall and healthy, balanced ripening, giving fruit with both freshness and concentration, which comes through beautifully in the glass.

Whats in the bottle
100% Chenin Blanc

£15.50 - £15.50
£15.50
£15.50 - £15.50
£15.50
Availability:
In stock

A.A. Badenhorst Family Wines is one of the names most closely associated with the modern rise of the Swartland, yet its roots feel deeply tied to an older, more instinctive South African wine culture. Based at Kalmoesfontein on the Paardeberg, the estate was founded by Adi Badenhorst and has become known for wines that are full of life, texture and an unmistakable sense of place. The farm is home to old bush vines, many planted in the 1950s and 1960s, spread across varied slopes and rooted in decomposed granite, quartz and iron-rich koffieklip soils, all of which contribute to the fragrance, savoury detail and natural tension that run through the range.

What makes Badenhorst so compelling is the way these wines balance freedom with precision. Farming is hands-on and largely biological in outlook, with unirrigated bush vines and a strong emphasis on preserving the individuality of each parcel. In the cellar, the approach is deliberately unforced, favouring traditional methods and gentle handling over polish for polish’s sake. That philosophy gives the wines their hallmark character, expressive, textural and often slightly wild around the edges, but always anchored by purity and purpose.

From the brilliantly drinkable Secateurs range to the more layered and age-worthy bottlings from Kalmoesfontein itself, A.A. Badenhorst has helped redefine what Swartland can be: not just fashionable, but profound. These are wines that celebrate old vineyards, Mediterranean varieties and the raw beauty of the Cape, all seen through the lens of a grower who trusts both the land and his own instincts.

The grapes are destemmed and gently pressed, with the juice
undergoing natural settling before fermentation. Fermentation
occurs spontaneously with native yeasts, across a range of vessels including 40-hectolitre foudres, concrete tanks, stainless steel, and old 500-litre French oak barriques. Malolactic fermentation is not controlled—some components complete it, while others do not, contributing to the wine’s layered texture and freshness. After maturation, the wine is blended proportionally from all components to achieve balance and complexity before bottling.