2023 Testalonga 'Baby Bandito Stay Brave' Orange Chenin Blanc
Craig Hawkins and his wife Carla have lead the natural wine movement in South Africa for some time now. Based in Paardeberg, Swartland, they are working mostly with local farmers with old-vine plots of exciting varieties such as Grenache, Carignan and Chenin Blanc.
'Baby Bandito Stay Brave' is Testalonga's skin-contact Chenin Blanc. Made from 42 year old, organic, dry-farmed Chenin Blanc, this wine is macerated on skins for 14 days before being pressed and matured in neutral fibreglass tanks.
This is an orange wine with a luminescent peachy hue, intense aromatics and a fine, chalky but rich palate. Expect classic Chenin Blanc flavours of yellow peach, green apple and nashi pear, but with a zippy, lingering acidity too. Unfiltered, unfined, minimal sulphites added.
