Danie de Wet Call of the African Eagle Chardonnay 2002

A classical lightly wooded Chardonnay. A dry wine with strong lemony, yeasty flavours and a lingering nutty aftertaste. Serve lightly chilled as a delicious aperitif or as an ideal partner to chicken, seafood or pasta.

variety : Chardonnay [ Chardonnay ]

winery :

winemaker : Danie de Wet

wine of origin : Breede River

analysis : alc : 13.27 % vol rs : 2.9 g/l pH : 3.47 ta : 4.7 g/l so2 : 96 mg/l fso2 : 56 mg/l

type : White wooded

ageing : 2 to 5 years.

in the vineyard : Climate: Winter rainfall approximately 300 mm per annum. Summer afternoons are fanned by a cool breeze from the Agulhas Coast. Nights are chilly and mist often shrouds the vineyards until late morning during high summer.

Soils: The gravelly soils are extremely rich in lime with a 7.8-8 Ph.

Irrigation: The vineyards are scientifically irrigated with the aid of a fully computerised irrigation system. Thanks to the most modern technology, irrigation on De Wetshof has been turned into an asset promoting the quality of the grapes.

Rainfall: Robertson is a winter rainfall area with aproximately 300 mm per annum.

Pest Control: Due to a very dry climate, spraying is minimal compared to other wine growing regions.

The ideal soil conditions for vineyard cultivation in the Cape allows Danie de Wet to match specific cultivars to their ideal soil requirements, in the belief that good wine is made in the vineyard, not in the cellar.

Rootstock: Richter 99, 110, 101-14
Age of the vines: 11-18 years
Yield: 8 tons per hectare
Soil type: Gravel lime
Vines per hectare: 4000
Trellising style: 6 Wire fence system, cordon with spur pruning

in the cellar : A pioneer of Chardonnay in South Africa, Danie uses traditional winemaking techniques, combined with modern technology to create a wine with rich yet elegant tropical, fruit flavours and subtle French oak complexity

The juice for this wine was selected from clones strong in citrus flavour. The wine fermented in small French oak barrels at 17-20ÂºC. After fermentation it was left on the lees for a short period to compliment the delicate nature of the wine.
Barrel maturation: 2 months
Danie de Wet adjusts his methods of winemaking from year to year, according to weather conditions and grape quality, in the belief that wine is made in the vineyard and not in the cellar.

Cooper: French oak barrels for De Wetshof are specially selected from specific coopers to enhance the quality of the fruit.

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