A.A.Badenhorst Swartland Family White Blend 2022 (750ml) *

Field blends built around Chenin Blanc are something of a Swartland calling card, and this white from A.A. Badenhorst leans into that tradition with a genuinely broad cast: Chenin makes up a little under half, joined by Clairette Blanche, Grenache Blanc, Palomino, Viognier, Roussanne, Muscat d'Alexandrie and Verdelho. The 2022 was fermented in large old wooden foudres and then rested in concrete for the better part of two years, an approach meant to preserve freshness rather than layer on oak. This is Western Cape white wine that rewards patience in the glass.

It opens quietly and asks to be coaxed, with yellow rose and white flowers, ripe peach, a lick of melted candle wax and a savory note of sweet sage. There is a saline, crushed-rock edge that keeps everything grounded, and the small proportion of Muscat lends a faint exotic lift that grows more insistent as the wine sits. The palate carries a medium-plus weight against a crisp, energetic line of acidity, poised and balanced throughout, finishing pithy and dry with a twist of orange rind.