TESTALONGA “El Bandito” Queen of Spaded 2025

Tinta Amarela from Abbotsdale, showing bright red fruit, floral lift and finely judged structure. 18 months ageing in old French oak has added polish without loosing the variety’s freshness and drinkability. The 2025 vintage was preceded by one of the wettest winters on record (again). A total of 689mm fell on Bandits Kloof. It was an extremely cool growing season. The first real heat came on the 25th of December, significant sun burn damage was the result, losing about 20-30% of the crop. Fortunately this helped reduce an already big crop and resulted in a fantastic vintage. The cool growing days and nights (relatively) led to wines that are well balanced with higher natural aciditys and pure fruit. This is one of the few Tinta Amarela vineyards panted in the Swartland. Only 300 vines are planted and we use this grape as a benchmark for tannin extraction. It has wondeful chalky tannins that combine very well with the fruit of the grape. ANALYSIS: Alc 12.53% | RS 1.2 g/l | TA 5.4 g/l | pH 3.48