Tag Archives: Badenhorst The Curator

Wine of the week: The Curator White 2021

curator white wine label
The Curator White 2021/$8-$17

Once more, South Africa sets an example for the rest of the world

The Wine Curmudgeon has been doing this long enough to have seen any number of wine fads come and go. Sadly, South Africa got stuck in several of them, including Parkerized shiraz and New Zealand-style sauvignon blanc that didn’t come from New Zealand.

Maybe this time, though, the country is establishing something that will become much than a fad: quality cheap wine.

The Curator White 2021 ($12, purchased, 13%) is just one more wine that demonstrates that the South Africans may have figured out something that baffles so much of the rest of the world (yes, you California!). Almost a dozen South African labels have been a wine of the week in the past two years, and that doesn’t include the epic MAN Family chenin blanc that won the Turner award in 2021.

And why not? The producers who do these wines – including MAN, Boekenhoutskloof, Ken Forrester, and Badenhorst, which makes Curator – have figured it out. They make $10 and $12 wine that tastes like wine and not a fruit cocktail.

In this case, it’s a white blend (mostly chenin blanc and chardonnay) that is somehow pleasantly oily, as chenin can be; fruity (stone fruit) but not sweet; and fresh. This is not easy to do, even in wines costing twice as much. That Badenhorst does it so well here speaks to its commitment.

Drink this chilled on its own, with takeout chicken or leftovers when you’re cleaning out the fridge. Highly recommended, and almost certain to be included in the 2024 Hall of Fame as well as the shortlist for the 2024. Turner.

Imported by Broadbent Selections

Wine of the week: Badenhorst The Curator Red 2020

Badenhorst The Curator Red label
Badenhorst The Curator Red 2020/$10-12

One more South African wine that shows its producers care about value and quality

Several years ago, a South African wine trade group official told me his country needed to premiumize – focus on selling more expensive wines in the U.S.

Boy, am I am glad so many producers in South Africa ignored that advice.

The most recent example is Badenhorst’s The Curator Red 2020 ($12, purchased, 14%), a red blend that has about half cabernet sauvignon and is rounded out with shiraz, cinsault, and grenache. It’s not exactly a Rhone blend knockoff, not with all that cabernet, but the effect is sort of the same: A big wine, with lots of dark fruit (blackberries and almost plums?) and hearty, but not unpleasant, tannins. And, somehow, a little rustic, so no one will confuse it with one of those supermarket red blends that is so smoooth.

In other words, just what we look for on the blog – an everyday wine that offers much more than it costs. It needs food, but that’s not a problem – burgers during the week, barbecue during the weekend, and pizza when you don’t feel like cooking.

Imported by Broadbent Selections

Wine of the week: Badenhorst The Curator 2019

curatorThis South African white blend is soft (but not sweet), pleasant, and enjoyable

One of the keys to finding wine that offers value, and especially for cheap wine, is finding a quality importer. Which is not always as easy as it seems. Some of the smaller importers that handle the best cheap wine often don’t have national distribution; even when they do, they may be limited in how much wine they import, be it because of logistics or limited supply.

I just finished a freelance piece about this, and will link to it when it runs. Until then, know that Broadbent Selections fits firmly into the value and quality niche. If you see a Broadbent wine, it’s almost always worth buying.

Case in point is Badenhorst’s The Curator ($10, purchased, 12.8%), a white blend from South Africa. As noted, I’ve had to look for cheap wine in places other than the usual suspects, thanks to the the pandemic and the tariff. South Africa has mostly not disappointed, and the Broadbent wines have been especially enjoyable.

The Curator is a blend of chenin blanc (a grape that does well in South Africa), chardonnay, and viognier. It’s pleasantly soft, as chenin can be, and a little oily and with some stone fruit from the viognier. The chardonnay contributes structure and a little tropical fruit (lime?). In this, it’s much more than the sum of its parts, and if it doesn’t flash bright acidity, that’s because it’s not supposed to.

Chill this and drink it on its own, or pair it with sheet pan chicken or fish.

Imported by Broadbent Selections

Wine of the week: Badenhorst The Curator 2017

Badenhorst The Curator The Badenhorst The Curator is a white South African blend that offers a glimpse into the country’s wine renaissance

South African wine has never been much popular in the U.S., save for a brief period at the beginning of the century when it knocked off high-powered Aussie shiraz. When that fad ended, the country’s wines pretty much disappeared from store shelves.

So what is the Badenhorst The Curator ($10, purchased, 12.5%) doing as the wine of the week during the blog’s 2020 Hall of Fame celebration? Because the South African white blend is that well made and that enjoyable.

I bought the Badenhorst The Curator because I had to, given the European wine tariff; the country’s track record for quality and value has been that off-putting for the past 15 years. But The Curator is not what South African wine has been. Rather, it speaks to the country’s renaissance, and especially with white wines. The blend (mostly chenin blanc) is still crisp and fresh, with soft citrus and an almost juicy stone fruit finish that lingers longer than it should. Best yet, the price reminds us that not all wine has to cost $15 just because.

Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2021 $10 Hall of Fame.

Imported by Broadbent Selections