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Single Vineyard Chardonnays Show That Old Produces Gold
And old vineyards can still perform when it comes to producing quality wines! The two oldest Chardonnay vineyards on De Wetshof, The Site and the Bateleur, are building up a formidable reputation on the Chardonnay landscape. As reported last year, The Site 2009 was one of only two Chardonnays to achieve a 5 Star rating in the 2012 Platter Wine Guide.
This year the De Wetshof Bateleur 2009 garnered a gold medal at the Chardonnay du Monde Competition held in France. This is the world’s leading competition for Chardonnay wines, attracting 908 entries from 43 countries for the 2012 event. Here the De Wetshof flagship Bateleur was one of only three South African wines to manage a place on the gold medal podium. What is interesting is that the Bateleur is made from a 25-year old vineyard, while the 5 Star The Site comes from a site planted 26 years ago.
“I am obviously very proud that these two ‘old timer’ vineyards are still managing to produce wines whose character and elegance is recognised by judging panels,” says Danie de Wet. “But what is more important is that these wines have shown what Chardonnay is capable of expressing when planted in the correct site specific terrains. This allows South African Chardonnay to build-up a track-record through legacy with its own unique story and narrative.”
De Wet says that the results at this year’s competition once again proved that South Africa had arrived on the world stage as a Chardonnay producer.
“We are honoured to receive this accolade from the world’s leading Chardonnay competition and hope this shows the world that South Africa is capable of producing white wines, and especially Chardonnay, that can compete with the best in the world.
“The fact that from the 43 countries whose wine were judged, South Africa was listed among the top 10 Chardonnay producers is an accolade to all those who over the past two decades made it their passion to bring South Africa to the fore as a leading producer of quality Chardonnay wines.”
