By this time, Adi Badenhorst decided to move on. Recalling the Constantia Valley where his father and uncle had 'farmed together in the days when people still ate fresh vegetables and hanepoot grapes and there were far fewer traffic lights', he found it reincarnated on Kalmoesfontein.
Next thing he was headed into the hinterland to join the 'revolution'. Ties with the aristocracy remain though: since 2009 he's consulted for Bordeaux's May-Eliane de Lencquesaing, former owner of Château Pichon-Longueville, now also a Cape grower developing Simonsberg vineyard Glenelly (near Rustenberg) as a New World name.
Meanwhile, the actual Swartland Revolution first hit the streets of arty hamlet Riebeek Kasteel near Malmesbury in 2010. It has become a two-day annual event that has captured the imagination of wine drinkers and wine anoraks alike.
Besides the Saturday street festival of wine, food, and fun, there is a less-hyped side to the occasion, yet one considered most significant by Adi: a serious sit-down themed tasting and discussion of local and international wines led by an invited overseas guest vintner. To date, both have been Rhone exponents: Stephane Ogier from Cote-Rotie and Comas winemaker Olivier Clape. In 2012 it's the father-and-son team of Alain and Maxime Graillot showing their Crazes-Hermitage wines.
Speaking of the thrill of attracting international vintners of this caliber to such a small new wine festival, the mercurial and irreverent Adi momentarily reveals how very seriously he actually takes his winemaking: there's an instant sincerity that only those who know him well might see more regularly.
To pull this event together, he and his fellow winemakers draw on an extensive network of country creatives, from artists to chefs to photographers to stylists. Among them is Cornelia. Herself a former stylist and decor editor on titles owned by publishing powerhouse Media24, she now runs home-based events management business De Liefde with BFF Judy Graaff (daughter of Jannie Engelbrecht, a former Springbok rugby and red winemaking compatriot of Cornelia's father Jan 'Boland' Coetzee).
In fact, Kalmoesfontein - like the Badenhorst and Coetzee clans' rustic West Coast and southern Cape seaside holiday cottages - has become an exclusive venue for intimate weddings and parties among Cape Town's 'it' crowd in the media, art, music, and food world ... to which Adi's rustic wines add just the right touch.
It turns out Adi and Cornelia's 'style' may well be the trendy new take on the simple, yet stylish authentic old Cape country...
Swartland eggs benedict with sweet potato rösti with fresh asparagus recipe by Adi Badenhorst paired with AA Badenhorst Family Wines White....
Sweet wine jelly with greek yogurt and stewed rhubarb recipe by Adi Badenhorst....