Gourmet Wine Evening at Bosman’s at the Grande Roche

Posted on March 29, 2011 by quietriotgirl

Join Adi at Bosman’s Restuarant at the Grande Roche for a gourmet food and wine experience not to be missed.

Canapés on arrival, a five-course dinner carefully paired with our wines, coffee and petit fours all in the charming company of Mr Badenhorst himself.

Date: Friday May 27th 2011
Time: 19h00
Cost: R690 per person
Dress: Smart/Casual
Bookings or more info: christine@granderoche.co.za or 021- 863 5100

The Grande Roche also overs a special one night package inclusive of the Gourmet Dinner, luxuary accomodation and full English Breakfast at R1500 per person sharing.

Tim Atkin’s Wine-of-the-Week

Posted on March 24, 2011 by quietriotgirl

OK, so I know it is almost Friday and a little late to get to a Wine-of-the-Week post, but we have been very busy with Swartland Revolution planning, setting up our ‘Inspiration Table’ at Toffie Pop Culture Festival (and public holidays…) and the weekend is the best time for wine anyway, so I think it is fine.

Tim Atkin, Master of Wine, presenter, wine judge, critic and photojournalist.” (I quote his Twitter profile) who writes for Intelligent Life, OLN, Woman and Home and WOFW made our 2008 Badenhorst White Blend his Wine of the Week this week.

And – as if that wasn’t enough to make our day (no, week) – then the well respected Jancis Robinson replied this to him on Twitter.

Good week indeed! Hope you are having an equally awesome week, if you are in Cape Town, come pop in at City Hall for the Toffie Festival and see our Inspiration Table…

Here is a sneak peak:

Books and other items collected from Adi’s office and the Kalmoesfontein cellar, styled by Helena Sheridan.

Harvesting the last block!

Posted on March 15, 2011 by quietriotgirl

Yesterday we harvested the last block of grapes. The very old Cinsault bush-vines in front of the Cellar were planted in 1964!

That’s a wrap for the Kalmoesfontein Harvest of 2011, now we start crafting the wine in the cellar!

11.11.11 Save The Date!

Posted on March 14, 2011 by quietriotgirl

AA Badenhorst Family Wines, Mullineux Family Wines, Porcelain Mountain Wines, Sequillo Cellars and The Sadie Family Wines would like to invite you to the second annual Swartland Revolution Weekend.

When: 11 – 12 November 2011

Where: Riebeek Kasteel

After the overwhelming success of the inaugural Swartland Revolution weekend in 2010 we will bring you a bigger, better Revolution in 2011.

The action kicks off with registration at the Royal Hotel on Friday 11 November 2011.

This year’s programme will include three tastings of top international and Swartland wines; another delicious BBQ by celeb chef Reuben Riffel; lunch at the ever popular Bar Bar Black Sheep and another open tasting for all members of the new Swartland Independent to showcase their best natural wines.

This year there will be 250 weekend packages available (at R1750 pp) as well as a limited number of Dinner (R500 pp) / Lunch (R325 pp) and Breakfast (R75) only tickets.

The Swartland Independent Street Party on Saturday afternoon is also once again open to the public at R50 pp.

Tickets are available now from Webtickets.co.za.

More info at www.theswartlandrevolution.com

Feedback from 2010:

“…the best wine event that I have ever attended. A perfect mix of serious tasting of seriously good wines, with a good measure of fun and festivity. The food was simply superb, the venues and layout spot on, the speech from Michael in particular absolutely brilliant. Honestly I feel sorry for those who thought they should miss this one. Bring on 2011 – and count me in!”

Erica Meles-Liebenberg – MelesPR

“It was fantastic and a HUGE privilege for me to be part of something so special. You’ve done a
fantastic job, something that’s organised, but still driven by 100% soul.”

Pieter Walser – BLANKbottle

“My wife asked me how it was this morning when I got back, and I said that it was like ‘Woodstock… but without the sex’.”

Raffi Gabeyan – French Importer

“Thank you all so much for a wonderful feast of fine wine, delicious food, knowledge, opinions and passion. I thought you guys pulled off a world class performance from the very start right through until the end.”

Alex & Caryn Starey – Keermont Vineyards

“I can confidently say that the Swartland Revolution was by far the most enjoyable wine event I have been to. It was run with Germanic efficiency but full of South African gees. There was a balance between formal tastings and lounging on the grass sipping Bollinger. We ate till we were fit to burst, and drank till we were dancing (read: falling off) hay bales, we chatted & laughed, sipped and smiled; this was a revolution against boring wines, against boring events; this was a revolt against the plain and the sad, the straight and the narrow; it was simply a benchmarking of joie de vivre.”

Harry Reginald Haddon – http://wineandi.wordpress.com

Bokkoms-on-toast with a glass of Chenin

Posted on March 11, 2011 by quietriotgirl

Kobus van der Merwe cooks up an unconventional Bokkoms-on-toast in his restaurant in Paternoster.

“Apple and gooseberries are the perfect slightly acidic counterpoints to the maasbanker, with seekoraal providing crunch, and orange beurre blanc and soft egg adding richness. The lettuce adds a bite of sea freshness. And in my opinion, Adi Badenhorst’s easy-drinking Secateur Chenin Blanc is its perfect wine partner.”

Read more about his Wild West Coast cooking on his blog on Food24. or follow him on Twitter @SardineToast.

Cornelia’s new farm style

Posted on March 9, 2011 by quietriotgirl

A while ago we reported on Mrs Badenhorst’s wardrobe dilemma… Well fashion guru Chris Viljoen has come up with a solution on his Afrikaans blog Die Rok… Chris took Cornelia shopping for some lovely lady like t-shirts and pretty scarves.

Have a look at his post and keep an eye out for more pictures. Here’s to looking good anywhere, any time.

"loosely translated…"

Posted on March 8, 2011 by quietriotgirl

Our wines recently got reviewed by Belgium wine expert Frank Van der Auwera. Using my Afrikaans to try interpret and translate, it all sounds like lovely praise to me…

I get:

‘Rebel of the Cape’ (sounds about right hey Adi)

‘He is a non-conformist by nature, but a super talent in the wine world, Adi Badenhorst, Swartland revelation.’

‘The label might seem kitsch (hmmm…) but what you get in the glass is refreshingly up-to-date…’ (on the Badenhorst White Blend 2007 vintage)

‘The 38 year old Badenhorst is seen as a big renewer of the Cape…’

If your Belgium -Dutch is better than mine, here are some extracts from the article.

genieten:)

Wine Revolutionaries

Posted on March 7, 2011 by quietriotgirl

Bloomberg writer Elin McCoy recently visited the Swartland. She spent time with neighbour, friend and fellow revolutionary Eben Sadie in his cellar, enjoyed a sundowner at the top of the Babylon’s Peak with neighbour Stephan Basson and ended her near perfect day with a braai with us on Kalmoesfontein.

Read her adventure and thoughts on the Swartland here.

quote: the most exciting winemaker in South Africa – unquote

Posted on March 7, 2011 by quietriotgirl

Our UK agents at Swig Wine recommended our wines to their loyal customers this week. Says the report on www.swig.co.uk: “There are rumours that say he was grown from stem cells on Elvis’s sideburns, but all we know is that Adi Badenhorst is the most exciting winemaker in South Africa”

There is also a lovely collection of reviews for our Family Estate wines and Secateurs Range, and with these amazing deals you will wish you were a loyal Swig buyer…

Read the review and interesting comments here.

“He’s like one of those eastern gurus who lets you see that the answer was in front of you all the time, you only had to change your focus to see it.”

Posted on March 2, 2011 by quietriotgirl

Harry Haddon, our fan and friend, recently discovered our “Wine” thanks to Shirley at Vino Pronto .

He has written a lovely flattering blog post about it, you can read the whole article on his blog, Wine & I, but to sum it up, Harry says:

“What is imortant is that it is a wine got that my wahoo flowing, it made me smile, it made me quickly pour another glass, and best of all (this for me is a really important aspect of wine) it made me want another bottle. Quickly.”

Glad we could rock your boat Mr Haddon…