Golden Tear Vineyards: An Interview with Adi Badenhorst

Interview by Andrea Eby, DipWSET, Sommelier, IWS, CSW

Adi Badenhorst is widely considered one of the wine world’s most colourful characters. Behind his self-deprecating sense of humour lies a razor sharp wit and intellect. Having grown up watching both his father and grandfather make wine in the Constantia region of South Africa, Adi did a stint at winemaking school and worked in France and New Zealand before returning home. In 2008, he and his cousin Hein purchased a largely neglected winery in the Swartland region of South Africa. Situated north of Cape Town, the region was known for its mountains and its huge diversity of flora, but there was a treasure trove of old vines waiting to be rediscovered.

Adi and his family have rejuvenated the farm, capitalizing on the old vines and planting new vineyards. All of the vineyards are dry-farmed and planted as bush-vines, well suited to the arid Swartland. Adi’s winemaking philosophy mirrors that of his farming methods: low intervention is the theme. Grapes are hand-picked and then fermented by wild yeasts in a variety of vessels, and sulphur additions are kept to a minimum. Adi strives to produce wines that are as authentic as he is, simple and delicious wines that in the second sip reveal a hidden complexity that keeps you coming back for more.

Andrea Eby (AE) You come from a farming family, and you bought this vineyard with your cousin. Does the wine business continue to be a family affair?

Adi Badenhorst (AB) My wife, Cornelia, and I run the business. I’m obviously with the winemaking and the viticulture. Cornelia is with marketing, organizing the farms, and making sure everything runs correctly. My brother and his wife specialize in agritourism, and we do a bit of catering. Our kids are young—they’re 13 and 10. I think they'll both hopefully carry on with what we’ve just started. You know, we’ve only been here 11 years.

AE A lot has changed in the decade you have been working the Swartland. Can you tell me how the Swartland Independent Producers organization came about?

AB That organization was born from the Swartland Revolution. It was basically an annual festival in the Swartland put together by me, Eben Sadie from The Sadie Family Wines, Chris and Andrea Mullineux from Mullineux & Leeu Family wines, and Callie Lowe from Porseleinberg Wines. We have been great mates for like 25 years. We invited producers that inspired us and journalists to present wines that they were inspired by or maybe reminded them of something that is happening in the Swartland. And then we had a little tasting of our own stuff. It was mainly to showcase what the best producers in the world were doing. It took off and it gathered so much momentum that it was quite scary but, you know, it was a fantastic celebration.

After a couple of years, we decided to form the Swartland Independent Producers Association (SIPA) because we were making wines in a certain way, in a certain style, in a certain philosophical approach. We were giving people guidelines on how to farm and approach the winemaking. Nothing was prohibited, but there were these strict guidelines. The pendulum had swung too far, and our movement was just there to bring about a bit of balance.

What the Swartland Revolution did was throw a big stone in a very quiet pond—and that quiet pond was the South African wine scene. When you throw a stone into a quiet pond, you know, the ripples travel everywhere. And, so it’s had an amazing knock-on effect in all the regions in South Africa.

SIPA has gained momentum. There are 26 or 27 members here in the Swartland, and now SIPA is changing its form. We are merging with the Swartland Wine Routes and becoming a think tank. We get together once a month for a wine tasting, to discuss problem wines and viticulture, etc. It’s encouraging to see how these things evolve.

AE For a long time, South Africa has represented incredible value, but right now, we are seeing a real drive towards premiumization in South Africa. Are wineries starting to demand the prices that the wines are actually worth?

AB I think our wines are very reasonable, but, in order to get people to understand and to believe in expensive wines, the vineyards need to be there. From a winemaking point of view, it also needs to be very sensible. It’s easy to hike prices and to make up stories, but the essence is the vineyard. Is the vineyard real? Has it got proper roots? Is it an incredible vineyard?

AE You sometimes refer to certain vineyards being “golden tear” vineyards. Can you tell us what you mean by that?

AB We rate our vineyards on an emotional scale. So, if you walk into a vineyard and you feel a bit emotional, and you feel little tears welling up in your eyes, that’s one golden tear. If you walk into a vineyard and you’ve a few more tears, that’s two golden tears. If you walk into a vineyard and you’re completely blown away by the ages of vines, the traditions, and you’re welled up with emotion, and maybe you are uncontrollably fondling the bunches or stroking the leaves, that is a three golden tear vineyard.

AE And you have a few of those now?

AB Yeah, I’ve got lots of golden tear vineyards.

AE If you had to pick one, what is the greatest grape variety in the world?

AB One that I don't make is Chardonnay. It’s probably the most amazing grape variety in the world. For the Swartland, on the white side, a grape like Chenin Blanc is amazing. But, I also lean towards the varieties like Grenache, Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris and obviously Grenache Noir, because they are just the perfect, perfect variety. In a way, they just listen to the viticulture, they listen to the soils. They really express a place very, very well.

AE What’s your take on Syrah from the Swartland?

AB It’s a very attractive wine, it’s a very sexy grape. We’ve got granite soil and amazing shale soil—these Table Mountain sandstones! Shiraz reacts differently to all of those, of course, depending on how it’s trained and farmed. We use a lot of Shiraz in our blends—at least 50% of our Family Red is Shiraz. I just love the tannin of Shiraz, and it’s got beautiful aromatics.

But, it’s a horrible thing to farm as a bush vine. The shoots are long and floppy, and they grow into the rows. You need to chop (in other words, break off a part of the shoot) quite early on and that stimulates a lot of lateral regrowth, so you’re constantly working in the vineyard to allow a bit of sunlight into that canopy. But it is very rewarding. AE How was your Syrah experience working with Alain Graillot in the Northern Rhône? AB I spent a couple of months with Alain in 2007. Our winemaking process is pretty much based on what I saw at Alain Graillot: everything is whole bunches directly into the tank. It’s really, really simple vinification, but to get really nice expression with the stalks and the seeds, we just leave our stuff on skins a little bit longer than what Alain would do. I never make a Shiraz on its own; it is always co-fermented in our blends. The Shiraz is always whole bunches, the Grenache and Cinsault is destemmed, and the Touriga we leave on the stalks. AE Why? AB I’ve got f---ing no idea. Just because it feels right [laughs]. AE What’s next for Badenhorst Family Wines? AB We still make a lot of wine under flor. I make fortified wines, ports, sherries, flor wines, fortified muscatels, probably 5,000 liters a year. Nobody drinks the stuff, but when they do start drinking it, I'll have a sh-tload to sell. We also do like 5,000 litres of brandy. We’ve obviously got the Vermouth with the Caperitif now, and we are now busy with an agave spirit. There’s a huge amount of blue agave planted in South Africa. We cook about 12 tonnes a month, and that 12 tonnes will give us like 300 litres of spirit. It's coming along very nicely I must say! I mean, I've never been to Mexico. I just watch YouTube videos to find out how they do it! No one’s died yet. AE You’re always working on something new. AB My partner, Hein’s, dad said if you farm and you’ve got a piece of land, you must be productive. That’s what we want to do. Most people in the Swartland are the owner, winemaker, marketer. They do everything themselves, and nothing is lost along the way, in terms of what they set out to do. Nothing is lost in translation.  No one’s died yet.

AE Because you are using quite a bit of stem-inclusion in your winemaking, do you wait for the tannins in the stems of each varietal to reach a certain point of ripeness?

AB No. Look, at my previous job, I worked mainly with Bordeaux varietals—Cabernet, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc—and we worked a lot on the physiological ripeness: the texture of the skins, texture and flavour of the pulp, the crunchiness of the seeds, the ease with which you can remove a berry from a bunch. Obviously, the analysis of the pH and the sugars is also very important when I'm testing ripeness.

But, if I had to apply the classic physiological ripeness indicators to my winemaking here in the Swartland, I would end up picking at 15.5% alcohol. And, I can’t drink wine that’s 15.5% quite frankly. So, I’ve developed a method called psychological ripeness. We just make one pick, and we pick everything together. I just have a look at all the varietals, all seven vineyards that go into our family wine, walk through, have a look at the condition of the vines and then make the call to pick. And I mean, you never pick on a Monday, you know? And, we never pick on a Friday, because that means we might need to work on the weekend. Our ideal ripeness is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. That’s psychological ripeness.

Banville & Jones carries red and white blends under the The Curator and A.A. Badenhorst Family Wines labels as well as a Chenin and a Shiraz under the Secateurs label.