Brad Paton

The Path

More than two decades at Buitenverwachting Wine Farm in Cape Town, South Africa have given Brad Paton a cellar practice built on judgment as much as technique. Since 2004, he has served as Head Winemaker and cellarmaster, with the work framed by selection, not excess: deciding which bottles earn release and which do not. The standard is explicit in his own words: “If I don't believe in the wine, I don't put it in the bottle.”

The Work Today

Cellar work under Paton is defined by restraint and attention to what the glass actually delivers. His view of white wine, and Sauvignon Blanc in particular, pushes back against fixed expectations and the habits drinkers bring to the bottle. As he puts it: “We are so schooled: we’re taught ‘this is what a Sauvignon Blanc should taste like’ that we forget about what we’re drinking, and what it’s really about.” That stance keeps the focus on the wine before the script. At Buitenverwachting Wine Farm, Paton favors an open reading of style, one that asks the wine to present itself on its own terms. The result is a cellar approach that resists embellishment and trusts the bottle to do the speaking.

Signature

Among Brad's signature wines are Maximus 2016, Hussey’s Vlei Sauvignon Blanc 2015, G ‘Limited Release’ 2017, and Beyond Sauvignon Blanc. The list reads as a set of considered bottlings rather than a display of volume, with each name tied to the same disciplined approach that governs release at Buitenverwachting Wine Farm.

In Their Words “We are so schooled: we’re taught ‘this is what a Sauvignon Blanc should taste like’ that we forget about what we’re drinking, and what it’s really about.” “I want people to drink the wine for what it is. I don’t want to put ideas in their head.”

Acclaim

Restraint is the throughline in Paton’s cellar logic. “I want people to drink the wine for what it is. I don’t want to put ideas in their head.” At Buitenverwachting Wine Farm, that principle keeps the work exacting and unsentimental: belief in the wine first, bottle second.