The Site Chardonnay

An extremely complex Chardonnay, this wine can be enjoyed with with leg of lamb and other roasted red meat dishes, as well as with certain cheeses.

After some months the wines are racked-off the lease and returned to the barrels to complete wood-maturation before bottling.

The grapes are picked in the coolness of morning to capture the fruit's beautiful rich complexities including a pronounced nuttiness and strong citrus notes, consistent expressions of this exceptional vineyard. After de-stemming, pressing and overnight-settling the juice is racked-off from the sediment and moved into French oak barrels specially selected by Monsieur Christian Radoux to enhance the nutty and citrus fruit flavours from this vineyard. The wine remains on the lees after fermentation with the barrels being kept under controlled temperatures. Weekly stirring (boutonnage) of the lees ensures maximum flavours are released.

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).