2021 Testalonga El Bandito Sweet Cheeks

WINEMAKER: Craig & Carla Hawkins
REGION: Swartland, SA
VARIETAL: Muscat d'Alexandrie
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic

"The name comes from the children who every year love to pick at the sweet berries and eat them, hence “sweet cheeks”. Probably the most fragrant wine we make. Hanepoot (Muscat Alexandrie) is actually a table grape and meant for eating but we did an experiment in 2013 with skin contact to try and extract the flavour and it has made one of our most refreshing wines to drink." - Craig

During the apartheid, the South African wine industry was completely dominated by one organization, which controlled everything from production to price. Modern day renegades, Craig & Carla Hawkins, established Testalonga in 2008 and shook the industry to its core. Settling in Swartland, they started with two barrels of macerated chenin - the first 'orange' wine made in South Africa. The deeply conservative authorities often rejected their wines for export for not exhibiting 'typicity' of South African wine.