Secateurs Red Blend 2025, AA Badenhorst

A.A. Badenhorst’s 2025 Secateurs Red Blend is a spicy, savory, deeply drinkable red from dry-farmed bush vines on the granite slopes of the Paardeberg in South Africa’s Swartland region. The blend is 80% Shiraz, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cinsault, bringing together dark-fruited richness, structural grip, and a supple, easygoing texture.

Aromas of black cherry, cassis, raspberry, violet, cracked pepper, dried herbs, and dusty earth lead into a medium-bodied palate with ripe fruit, fine tannins, and a dry, refreshing finish. The wine is fermented with native yeast in open concrete tanks, foot-stomped during fermentation, and aged on gross lees in casks, foudres, and concrete.

It’s rustic in the best possible way: honest, food-friendly, and full of character without feeling heavy. Pair it with grilled lamb, peri-peri chicken, burgers, smoky mushrooms, lentils, or anything involving char, spice, and good decisions.

About the Winery

A.A. Badenhorst Family Wines is one of the essential names in modern South African wine. The winery was founded in 2008 by cousins Adi and Hein Badenhorst, who bought an old farm called Kalmoesfontein on the northern side of the Paardeberg Mountain in Swartland. The property had been neglected for years, but Adi saw what mattered most: old vines, granite soils, and the chance to make wines with real character rather than polish for polish’s sake.

Adi Badenhorst grew up around wine at Groot Constantia, where his grandfather served as general manager for decades. He made his first wine at thirteen, studied at Elsenburg, worked harvests in France, New Zealand, and South Africa, and spent nine years as winemaker at Rustenberg in Stellenbosch before heading to Swartland. That move placed him at the center of what became known as the Swartland Revolution—a shift toward old vines, Mediterranean varieties, dry farming, native fermentation, and wines that tasted more like place than recipe.

The Badenhorst approach is farming-first and low-intervention without being performative about it. The vineyards are mostly dry-farmed bush vines, tended with biological farming practices, composting, cover crops, mulching, and minimal herbicide use. In the cellar, the goal is to keep the wines honest: native yeasts, old vessels, concrete tanks, large foudres, and little manipulation. The Secateurs wines are their calling card—accessible, generous, and full of Swartland soul. They’re the kind of bottles that prove “everyday wine” doesn’t have to mean boring wine. A radical concept. Someone alert the committee.