"It was Danish mixologist Lars Erik Lyndgaard Schmidt who became intrigued by the Cape quinine wine mentioned in The Savoy Cocktail Book published in 1930. A vermouth-style wine-based drink called Caperitif was listed as an ingredient for cocktails such as the Manyann, and the name popped up in other cocktail recipes around the 1920s and 1930s, but then the company who made it went bust and Caperitif disappeared into the mists of time. Lyndgaard Schmidt determined to find someone who could help him revive the past.

Enter Adi Badenhorst, stage left, (the driving force behind Secatuers and Badenhorst Family wines) the man Jancis once described as 'the Jim Clendenen of the Cape'. With unruly hair scraped back in a ponytail and usually in a scruffy t-shirt with some kind of slogan emblazoned on the front, he was one of the Swartland avant-garde picking old-vine Chenin when it wasn't cool, and making a wine under flor when sherry was a drink that nobody drank.

There are 35 aromatic ingredients in total, largely sourced from the Cape Floral Region – the smallest and most diverse of the six floral regions in the world with over 9,000 plants, most of which are endemic. The flavour profile differs a little from batch to batch, depending on the vintage, the time of year the botanicals are picked and what's available. It's sweetened with grape must and fortified to 17.5%.

This wonderful 'tonic wine' is a kaleidoscope of flavours. It pokes you in the ribs and flicks a middle finger at convention, doing somersaults on a tightrope between gramophone retro and reckless fringe. It's good straight up on ice, splashed with tonic water, turned long with cold soda water, mixed with gin for an edgy martini cocktail, and makes a much more sophisticated, complex Aperol Spritz than Aperol does. It also makes a damn good negroni. And for anyone who's looking for something less sweet than port and less alcoholic than cognac to finish the evening, this hits a satisfying middle ground.

With Christmas coming up, I can't think of something more fun and interesting to play with, whether you're northern or southern hemisphere, doing canapés and cocktails or a fusion-food starter or finding something to go with Christmas pudding and mince pies."
(Tamlyn Currin, Jancis Robinson Purple Pages, November 2018)

"A fragrant and floral vermouth, showing aromas of orange blossoms, quinine, grapefruit rind, wild herbs and cinnamon. Lightly bittersweet, pretty and refreshing. Made from bukettraube and chenin blanc, infused with botanicals like fynbos from the farm, fortified to 16% alcohol and aged in a solera system. Try with tonic and ice. Drink now, or hold."
91 points. James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (November 2024)