Sauvignon Blanc

The succulent palate structure makes this an ideal food wine, superb with oysters, seafood, pasta carbonara, barbecued meats, cream-based pasta dishes, light curries as well as roast pork and veal dishes.

The Robertson Valley is characterised by cold winters and sunny summers, with an average annual rainfall of 350-400mm. In summer a fresh southerly breeze has a cooling effect on the vineyards, allowing the grapes to ripen evenly and in perfect balance. The dry climate and the bracing breeze keep pests to a minimum, resulting in sparse spraying programmes. Controlled computerised irrigation systems including the monitoring of soil moisture content ensure the vines are given exactly the right amount of water at the right time to produce grapes of optimum ripeness and developed flavours. The soils are close to the Breede River and show an abundance of sand and gravel with plenty of limestone that was washed down from the mountain slopes over previous millennia. Below the soils' surface the gravel allows the roots to mine down deep for nutrients and in the process a pronounced minerality develops in the fruit. This type of soil, which has a sparse water-retention component, is very cold which assists the plants in the difficult period over a hot mid-summer.

The Sauvignon Blanc grapes are picked in the coolness of morning, the emphasis being on capturing that perfect ripe stage when the fruit has developed ripe fig flavours with softer acids whilst an abundance of crisp and fresh tropical fruit is woven into the structure. Grapes enter the cellar under reductive conditions where they are de-stemmed, skin contact for 6-10 hours and then pressed. After settling the clean juice is rack off the sediment and moved into stainless steel tanks for fermenting under controlled cold temperatures. Once fermentation is complete the wine is racked from the thick muddy lees and kept on the fine lees at very low temperatures. After the wine has gained further complexity from lees contact it is racked and prepared for bottling.

The name De Wetshof has been synonymous with the production of fine wines in South Africa since the 1970’s. As the first registered wine estate in the Robertson Wine Valley De Wetshof has become known internationally as South Africa’s eminent Chardonnay House due to the pioneering role it played in introducing this noble Burgundian grape to the country. The De Wet family’s winemaking heritage can however be traced back to 1694 when the first De Wets arrived at the Cape and immediately made a mark on the South African wine industry. Today De Wetshof is one of the few third generation wine estates in South Africa. Here Danie de Wet proprietor and cellarmaster is assisted by sons Johann (viticulture and marketing) and Peter (winemaker).