Testalonga El Bandito Cortez 2020

Testalonga Cortez Chenin Blanc Craig Hawkins, rich, round, minerally, top Natural South African Chenin! It has a beautiful bright golden colour with aromas of wild honey and freshly baked bread which contrast with its dry, very racy with tangible sinewy texture. There is plenty of depth and complexity, a core of Asian pear and orange peel, layers of herbs, fennel, nuts with almost a seaweed saltiness and minerality. Seems to be quite Jura like in style but is also distinctively New World. Fascinating Chenin showing how South Africa is becoming a very exciting country for natural wine with life and vigour!

Craig Hawkins is a young winemaker based in the Swartland, South Africa, where he rents about 11ha of vineyard.

Having travelled extensively throughout Europe, and then worked as wine maker for Lammershoek, he now makes makes a huge variety of different wines under his own Testalonga label. Each vintage is experimental and we think they're getting better each year. These are beautiful natural hand-crafted wines from low yielding vines, wild ferments and nothing added except a little SO2 at bottling in some but not all the wines.