Badsberg are a quiet producer of excellent wines, so proven by the continuous number of Young Wine Show awards they win. Since 2005 they have won the prestigious Pietman Hugo Award 7 times! The Young Wine Show is a good indicator to the larger producers of the type of wines being produced, and to be a consistent winner of these awards means they are doing something right! Henri Swiegers, winemaker at Badsberg, proudly tells me that they make 30 million litres of wine at their facility, a lot of which goes into bulk wine sold to other producers, but the point is that it is good wine and hopefully also raising the quality and perception of South African wine. They grow a lot of Chenin and Colombard, but Henri says their mandate is to keep them at 50% or less of their plantings. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of new vines going into the ground as well as young vines rearing their fresh new leaves over the trellising. So all this talk of pulling out vines is not really happening in the Breedekloof - where new plantings all over seem to be the order of the day. Badsberg don't just make good bulk wines, but their Pinotage has been popping into the ABSA Top 20 a lot - and this year selected to be in the coveted Top 10. Look out for our #tastefriday for Pinotage Day - we will give it a taste and let you know what we think.