De Wetshof Harvest 2017 Shows Each Year Has Its Own Fingerprint

Danie de Wet, proprietor of De Wetshof Estate in Robertson, says he has been around long enough to know that each year stamps its own individual fingerprint on a wine vintage, and this year is another good example.

“Not so much in terms of the timing of the harvest – here we are two to five days later than last year,” says Danie. “Nor in terms of vineyard yields, which are on par with normal tonnages, despite the past two dry winters.”

Where 2017 has thrown a slight curve-ball is in the flavour compounds in the heart of the Chardonnay grape. This is what De Wetshof is known for, with 70% of the Estate planted to this royal Burgundian variety which Danie pioneered in South Africa.

“The grapes have reached an optimum state of phenolic ripeness,” explains Danie. “The chemistry, too, is just as we want the berries to be. However, we are finding the ripe fruit-flavours in the grape to be lagging behind, waiting for an extra few days or even hours before reaching the taste-profile we require for picking and vinification.”

The reason for this, says Danie, is possibly the substantial amount of wind the vines were exposed to from spring until the end of December.

“Having access to water, the soils’ moisture content is constantly monitored, with drip irrigation applied as needed. On De Wetshof we also did not experience consecutive days with consistently high temperatures,” says Danie. “But it was very windy. The winds from the north caused the most stress, but we also had the usual south-easterly wind which is gentler on the vines. And it is these constant winds that could have caused the delay in developing fruit flavours in the grapes.”

By 31 January, however, certain blocks were showing the correct fruit profiles and have been harvested.

De Wetshof is particularly precise about their daily harvesting schedule. “We begin working in the vineyards at around 03:00, and as soon as the mercury reaches 27°C the pickers stop,” says Danie. “As it gets warmer, the grape’s structure changes. The bunches therefore are allowed to rest during the heat of day, and cool down at night – leaving them revitalised and fresh to be harvested the next morning. ”

The juice and young wines exhibit clean, fresh flavours with the characteristics of De Wetshof’s terrain-specific vineyards already coming to the fore.

“The traits of the different sites where the vineyards are planted can already be picked up in the young wines, and although it is still early days, I predict a good harvest of superior quality that will allow each one of our terrain-specific wines to display their unique characters,” he says.