Tasting Notes
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3x Chenin 2025, 3x Syrah 2025
Winner of South Africa's New Generation Winemaker of the Year 2026
Vintage on vintage, you can feel Banele gaining experience and finding his voice as a winemaker. We loved his very first wines too, but they are entering a new level that is extremely exciting and we're so happy for him.
Banele (pronounce Ba-nel-ee) grew up in Cape Town's largest township, Khayelitsha. He still lives there, looking after four younger siblings, after his mum died. He earned a scholarship to a Constantia high school and his classroom looked out over a vineyard, he sat there daydreaming about what life in wine would be like. He got a degree at Elsenberg Agricultural College and enrolled on the Cape Winemaker’s Guild Protégé programme, where he did stints in Burgundy, Oregon and Yarra Valley. The final stage was with Savage wines. Such was Duncan's fondness and respect for Banele as a person and winemaker, he was there for nearly 6 years, just finishing with him before Christmas to fully focus on his own project, supported and encouraged to do so by Savage himself. Banele has named his wine after his late mother, Tembela, which means faith, hope and belief. The label pays tribute to women wearing traditional Xhosa attire carrying wine barrels.