According to Johann de Wet from De Wetshof, whose Danie de Wet Chardonnay is included in the Bayede Icon Wine Range launched last week, the name of the Zulu king has the potential to elevate the image of South African wine to a new level. "Especially in international markets, the need for South African wines to obtain premium status remains one of our industry's biggest challenges," says De Wet. "The seven wines in the Bayede Icon Wine Range have the potential to do this under the royal banner of the Zulu Kingdom and the Bayede enterprise which not only markets a range of exclusive products locally and internationally, but also ploughs profits back into various communities and assists in creating employment." During the launch of the Bayede Icon Wines, King Goodwill said that through his travels around the world he had noticed that South African wines were not afforded the premium status and price-levels they deserved. "The South African wine industry is a national treasure,” he said. “That is why it has been chosen for representation under the Bayede range of products. Under the label of the Bayede Icon Range, we would like to contribute towards elevating the perceived image and status of South African wines and the image of the industry as a whole," he said. "This makes myself and the Bayede enterprise proud to be partners to the South African wine industry and especially honoured to have seven of South Africas’s icon wine producers as in our stable.” The Danie de Wet Chardonnay 2012 produced for the Bayede label is made from a site-specific vineyard on the De Wetshof Estate in Robertson. Soils comprising gravel and limestone components give this wooded wine classic Chardonnay characteristics of citrus and nuts with a soft, lingering finish.