Sauvignon Blanc fermenting in Wineglobes in the Diemersdal wine cellar. Photo: Diemersdal Estate
This has been a year of innovation in South African winemaking. On the tasting circuit, I’ve sampled multi-layered wines skilfully blended by winemakers experimenting with components of the same wine fermented in clay amphora, concrete eggs, stainless steel, barrel and foudre. The great experiment proves that old maxim that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Unveiling the first Chardonnay in mid-2025 made in glass globes in South Africa, De Wetshof Estate winemaker Johann de Wet spoke about the advantages of these revolutionary new winemaking vessels. The quest for varietal purity, linearity and expression of terroir in Chardonnay continues at this pioneering estate in the Robertson Wine Valley which has developed eight styles of oaked, unoaked and specific site Chardonnay, developing its own clonal garden and style.
Glass and marble. The launch of De Wetshof’s maiden The Shard 2024 was the highlight of the annual media tasting of new releases of Chardonnay at Marble at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. Emphasising the depth and complexity of unoaked Chardonnay, Johann explained how the hermetically sealed glass vessels – unlike porous oak, concrete and clay – allow for the purest expression of the terroir and variety to the full. Sourced from a single vineyard site rich in limestone, the Wineglobes preserve the linearity and precision of Chardonnay in a classic style.
Johann says that using bulbous glass globes (sometimes called pots) appealed to him because of the neutrality of the vessel. The spherical shape works like a convection way of fermentation, allowing for extended lees contact and structure, allowing the wine to age without adding external tannin or flavours. The wine is sourced from one of their best Chardonnay sites.
A thousand litres of The Shard were made in the glass Wineglobes developed in Bordeaux, France, by the Paetzold family over the last decade. Winner of the prized Vinitech Innovation Award in 2020, over 1 500 Wineglobes (varying in size from 25 to 400 litres) are used by over 500 wineries worldwide today. De Wetshof made 1000 litres of The Shard Chardonnay from the 2024 vintage in its first batch of 220 litre globes, where the wine remained on its lees for eight months after fermentation. Selling for R780 per bottle, aimed at the on-trade, the wine displays the hallmark elegance, minerality lean mouthfeel and fresh citrus flavours of De Wetshof Chardonnay.
De Wetshof plans to increase volumes by acquiring more of the Wineglobes. The Shard follows the earlier release of their new Calcrete Chardonnay, one of a dozen unoaked wines made by producers across the Robertson Wine Valley who are jointly building the Calcrete brand based on promoting the signature style of the appellation’s Chardonnay terroir. At a cost of around Euros 5000 per 220 litre globe, the new vessels, currently used by at least four Cape wineries, come at a cost. “We’ve bought a few more pots”chuckles Johann. Watch this space. To try the new wine, you’ll have to wait for the 2025 vintage. The Shard 2024 is already sold out.
CEO Johann de Wet with De Wetshof's Wineglobes containing Chardonnay. Photos: Gera de Wet
Discussing what he calls "a vat for pure expression", oenologist Michael Paetzold asks on the Wineglobe website, "What is the perfect vat for making wine? To make wine why use a different material to the one we use for cellaring it? Is glass an alternative vessel that wouldn’t be influenced by wood yet be neutral? The Wineglobe was developed for passionate winemakers pursuing pure, natural, precise and environmentally friendly wines which showcase the terroir."
Glass, clay, concrete, steel and wood. Wine is going back to the elements. Traditionalist need not worry that those old world French cooperages will be displaced by the new world’s golden globes. Although these cutting-edge vessels are versatile, suiting the ageing and fermentation of white, red and rose wines, there is also the high-end cost barrier and centuries of tradition and investments in wood to consider. Made from borosilicate glass – "the purist, strongest and most resistant type of glass" – the makers, Famille Paetzold, and distributors, Bouchard Cooperages, of Wineglobes claim the many advantages are, inter alia:
- Wineglobes are a unique tool to explore terroir, vineyard and fruit in their purest form.
- Wineglobes produce unique wines that are totally different from wines made in wood, concrete or steel vats.
- They can be used as a blending component with barrels to develop complexity in wine.
- They're completely non-porous, inert, impermeable, neutral and unaltered over time.
- They're extremely versatile vessel for making white, red, rosé and sparkling base or skin contact wines for vinification and ageing.
- Glass has a thermal conductivity close to concrete for good temperature stability.
- Glass transparency means lees sedimentation, wine turbidity and malolectic fermentation can be observed.
- Elimination of headspace means no topping – and a decrease in SO2 usage of 25-50%.
- No extraneous aromas, flavours or elements are introduced.
Fascinated by the magical alchemy of the new glass globes, I dropped in at Diemersdal Estate, the Durbanville family estate which released the first wine made in South Africa in Wineglobes in early 2025 – a Sauvignon Blanc 2023. I wanted to see the globes at work. The specialist winery has pioneered nine expressions of Sauvignon Blanc under the helm of innovative proprietor and winemaker Thys Louw – including winter ferment, eight row site, wild yeast, noble late harvest and fume style – the sixth-generation winemaker on one of the Cape’s oldest farms founded in 1698.
Winemaker Juandré Bruwer is one of the new converts to the gospel of glass. I spent an afternoon tasting different expressions of the same Sauvignon Blanc site made in a combination of Wineglobes, stainless steel, clay amphora, concrete eggs, barrel and foudre on a walk through the labyrinth of old whitewashed farm cellars escorted by farm dogs. Beam me up Scotty. Aesthetically, the glass Wineglobes seem to glow lambently in the dark cellar, the transparency revealing the elixir of wine as it undergoes a magical transformation. Very arty.
Juandré says that after a recent visit to Sancerre, he learned how to reduce Sauvignon Blanc to its core, stripping out the thiols, bells and whistles while it matures in the Wineglobes over twelve months. He says the globes are about texture, essence and longevity. He covers the globes in a fabric casing to prevent light exposure. It makes the cellar look even more like a Christo-wrapped art installation. The non-porous glass – mineral not metallic (like stainless steel) – allows the grape’s natural fruit and acidity to express itself. The tasting reveals the slow evolution of the wine compared to oak barrel fermentation. Every component tastes different.
He goes on to say that the Wineglobes are left in peace for the entire period of maturation. "We’ll stir the lees once a month upon which the lees is held naturally in suspension for their subtle influence, but we don’t want to overdo it, preferring to keep things as pure and unhindered as possible," he says. "The cellar-area where the Wineglobes are placed is at a constant 18°C, an ideal temperature so no cooling is required."
Thys comments, "Wood imparts its own flavour, and like concrete and amphorae, is porous, while stainless-steel is influenced by static electricity. The Wineglobes allow for a totally closed environment in which the wine is permitted to express clarity of terroir and variety to the full. I am incredibly pleased at the results. The precision and purity of the wine aged in the Wineglobes has allowed us to see Diemersdal Sauvignon Blanc and its terroir in a new dimension of linear focus."
All the who’s who of top French marques – inter alia Gérard Bertrand, Domaines Ott, Didier Dagueneau, Stéphane Ogier, Château d’Yquem, Chateau Cheval Blanc, Château de Meursault and Vincent Dancer – are using Wineglobes. Winemaker Véronique Boss-Drouhin of Joseph Drouhin comments, “There is a unique character to what’s in the globe, almost exotic. Gorgeous." The spherical shape of the vessels allows the wine to be in a state of constant motion, alive and dynamic, creating unique, harmonious wine.
Winemakers in France have used glass demi-johns – used widely, carboys are used extensively in winemaking in the US – to blend wine for decades. Carboys derive from qarabah, an ancient Persian name for glass vessels used for preserving wine. There’s nothing new under the sun.
For a report on Wineglobes in the US, see Why winemakers are trading their wood vats for glass globes by Mike Dessimone and Jenssen in Robb Report.