De Wetshof Bateleur Continues to Fly High at Nederburg Auction
Wednesday, 3 October, 2012
De Wetshof Estate
Burgundian plant material, the wine’s true expression of a unique
vineyard site and ageing potential. These factors have made De Wetshof’s
Bateleur Chardonnay one of South Africa’s premier white wines, a fact again underscored
during this year’s Nederburg Auction where the Bateleur recorded the highest
price for a white wine for the third year in a row.
A case of four magnum bottles of De Wetshof Bateleur 2008 was sold for
R2 600, with the average price for a 9l case of white wine realising
R1 051.
According to Danie de Wet, the wine is still made from the same Bateleur
vineyard planted in 1987, making this the oldest single vineyard Chardonnay in
the country.
“The age of the vines and the low yield of between four to six tons
definitely help give the wine personality, elegance and structure, factors
which truly come to the fore after bottle-ageing,” says De Wet, a firm believer
in the ageing potential of South African Chardonnay.
“However, personality and character in a wine is only achieved from
vineyard sites where the soils and climate form an integral part of the vine,”
says De Wet. “The Bateleur plant material, originally imported from the Clos
des Mouches vineyard outside of Beaune in Burgundy, has adapted well to the current
site. The vineyard is hosted in rocky, mountain soil with an abundance of free
limestone and a very high pH, with an additional pronounced clay component
providing substantial water retaining capacity.”
The vineyard of 3.51 hectares is planted at 4 000 vines per hectare,
slightly higher than the South African average.
At harvest the grapes are picked in the coolness
of morning to capture the beautifullyelegant complexities of pear-drop and
citrus flavours characterising this vineyard’s fruit. Once de-stemming, pressing and overnight
settling have been completed, the juice is racked off from the sediment and moved into Burgundy barrels.
After fermentation, the wine remains on the lees under controlled temperatures.
Weekly stirring (batonnage) of the lees in the barrels ensures maximum depth of flavour is
released into the wine. After some months the wines are racked off the lees and
returned to barrels to complete the wood-maturation, spending on average a
total of 12 months in wood.
“The fact that the Bateleur
continues to command a good price at an event such as the Nederburg Auction
shows that pedigree and reputation play - and will continue to play - a major
role in the recognition of a wine,” says De Wet. “25 years ago, when the
vineyard was planted, I would not have been able to forecast the wine achieving
such a reputation. But to see it happen is definitely very satisfying and
rewarding. At the end of the day, this is what we viticulturists and winemakers
work towards.”