The Finesse Chardonnay, a wine in the range of South African pioneering Chardonnay producer De Wetshof Estate, was adjudged one of the top 100 local wines in the recently held Top 100 SA/National Wine Challenge. The Top 100 award went to the De Wetshof Finesse Chardonnay 2015, a wine made from a vintage characterised by early-ripening and exceptionally healthy fruit resulting from cool, breezy conditions during the growing season.

According to De Wetshof cellarmaster Danie de Wet, a Top 100 SA award is not only recognition for our vineyards and cellar-team, but also of value to the consumer who has to navigate through an ever-growing range of wines.

“With its stringent judging process by local and international experts, the SA Top 100 list affords recognition of which any successful producer can feel justifiably proud,” he says. “South Africa has never been making as many excellent wines as it is doing now, especially in the Chardonnay category where our country is being recognised as the best Chardonnay producer in the New World. To thus see a wine of yours rise to the occasion amidst so much competition from wide range of producers representing an astounding diversity of terroir, site and winemaking excellence, is a great honour.”

De Wet says the 2015 vintage is proving to a very fine one for Chardonnay. An early harvest due to a long dry summer saw the grapes arriving at the cellar 10 days earlier than usual in a stage of optimal ripeness.

“Like all our Chardonnays, the grapes for the Finesse wines are sourced from the Estate’s vineyards growing on sites specifically suited to the style of wine that is going to be bottled,” says De Wet. “Rocky, gravelly mountain soils rich in limestone with a significant amount of clay to assist in the water-retention capacity helps the vines to develop fruit with strong citrus flavours with a characteristic nuttiness on the mid-palate and finish.

“It is a wine with an address, showing a fingerprint of site-specificity which is a non-negotiable aspect of all De Wetshof’s Chardonnays.”

At the Top 100 SA/National Wine Challenge, De Wetshof’s Limelight Chardonnay Pinot Noir was awarded a Double Gold medal as well.