King Of The Kuier

When rebel winemaker Adi Badenhorst, his stylist wife, Cornelia, and their extended family get together for Sunday lunch, it’s worth the trip to the Swartland. And they’re so full of gees, they’re more than happy to share their best braai recipes

- Jeanne Calitz

Watching the whole Badenhorst family getting ready for a Sunday braai on their farm Kalmoesfontein in the Swartland is like seeing the members of an accomplished orchestra moving into place.

It’s that moment when every musician is testing their instrument by sounding out a few notes in preparation. It’s a colourful jumble of sounds, yet also strangely beautiful and surprisingly cohesive. Here, at the home of AA Badenhorst wines, you get that same feeling: that every family member has their instrument to play, everyone brings something different to the table.

This is where the metaphor ends, however, because the result of today’s preparations is not a performance, it is a good old-fashioned party – a proper langtafel lunch with family and friends.

But first, there’s work to be done. Outside, Cornelia Badenhorst, wife of winemaker Adi (and herself a décor stylist by trade) can be found overseeing the placement of the braai dromme, the tables, the chairs. This is between calls to the main house to check whether their children, Samuel and Ana, have in fact gotten out of bed. In the kitchen, Adi’s brother Charl, the resident cook, is building a mountain of braaibroodjies to feed the hordes – although the exact number of guests seems to be a matter of some speculation. Will they be 12, or 18? Nobody seems to really know, or care. The more the merrier.