De Wetshof estate

Knight of Geisenheim

Last year Danie de Wet retired after years in service at KWV. Jeanri-Tine van Zyl spent a day on family estate De Wetshof and got a glimpse into the life and ideals of this venerable man of the cellar.

 

In Danie de Wet's cellar office hangs an elaborately framed print by German painter JP Hasonderer, depicting a jovial scene of flushed wine tasters scrutinising the contents of their glasses.

The group of drinkers is huddled over a table in a cellar and the portrayal captures the mystique, camaraderie and joy associated with wine. But for De Wet the print means so much more than this.

Primarily it serves as a reminder of his studies at Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany, a time during which he visited Dr Hans Ambrosi at the German Government's Association of Wine Estates, where the original painting by the 19th-century artist still hangs.

"Ambrosi could speak Afrikaans," recalls De Wet. "For a young man in unfamiliar surroundings it meant a lot."

"I was the sixth South African to study at Geisenheim," he continues, looking at the original-size print of the 1843 painting. "[Abraham Izak] Perold [pioneer of Pinotage] was the first," he adds. "It was he who brought in this very print to the KWV head office in 1910 or 1920."

De Wet is well aware of the prestige associated with the German institute, whose graduates are awarded the highest educational degree in winemaking.

The years spent in the Ausland opened doors for De Wet. It is during this time that he had what he refers to as his "Damascus moment" - he was introduced to a liberal wine world not bogged down with red tape as was the case in South Africa. For him this translated into an opportunity to gain knowledge and plough it back into his home country.

Still in his cellar office, De Wet tells how the painting evokes more than just the liberating years at Geisenheim. More recently the original-size print has come to represent another era in De Wet's illustrious career.

Last year when he resigned as chairman of the KWV association, after 13 years in its service, five of which as chairman, this print was handed to him as a parting gift.

"The print first hung in a hall amidst random prints in the KWV building," he says. "I used to look at it when I was member of the board, and when I was elected chair I asked for this print. I put it up against the wall behind my desk in an office much more beautiful than this one."

Talking to De Wet reveals a man that is far more than just a winemaker - his extensive wine knowledge and experience has turned him into a teacher.

He knows full well his is a proud legacy - he's been referred to as aristocratic, but I don't detect a superiority complex. Still, De Wet is a larger than life man - in stature as well as in his years of service to the wine trade.

Conversation with him depicts a wine world wholly different from what we know in South Africa today: "Grapes were solely produced for stookwyn and brandy production," he remembers. "The market for fortified wines was bigger than unfortified - the nation was drinking Lieberstein and loving it."

De Wet descends from "a time pre wine guides and ratings, a time when your wine was rated according to the praise and criticism it could elicit from counterparts." Back then wine was a friendly business, he says.

Although De Wet affectionately recalls the past, he has played a huge role in shaping the modern-day South African landscape. De Wet didn't wait for the great wheel of change to start turning; instead he actively geared towards transformation.

He was a frustrated winemaker during a time when South African viticultural plantings were restricted to Colombard, Cape Riesling (Crouchen Blanc) and Steen (Chenin Blanc), before the Klopper commission's verdict in 1986 which categorically bemoaned the impeding influence of red tape on grape plantings.

During the 1980s De Wet was part of a 'band of criminals' associated with vine smuggling. Cuttings were smuggled in from France to be grafted and planted in South African soil. Some of these cuttings found a home on the De Wet's family farm in Robertson, in the ‘Bateleur' block, and with this De Wetshof became one of the first farms in South Africa to grow Chardonnay vines.

Today there are several Chardonnay producers with which De Wetshof wines compete, and indeed De Wet's wines are yet to out-perform some other Chardonnays on WINE magazine's category tastings.

To date, the highest rating De Wetshof Chardonnay has received is 3½ Stars (for the De Wetshof D'Honneur Chardonnay 2005 and Danie de Wet Bateleur Chardonnay 2005).

To this De Wet gives an abrupt laugh. "Competitions maintain discipline - that is why I would enter my wines. But I want to add that few people have the know-how to competently judge Chardonnay. The varietal has an enormously divergent character."

When you are confronted with the line of various Chardonnay styles produced on the farm, it is clear that these wines perform with mindful drinking rather than quick tastings. From the more approachable unoaked wines to the food-friendly wooded blends, it is clear why the name De Wetshof is synonymous with Chardonnay.

De Wet is eager to share his ideals, passion and dedication to the variety. "We have the right soil in Robertson, a solid combination of limestone and clay," he says while tasting the different styles.

He interjects with nods: "That's the limestone," and then to no-one in particular, "Do you get citrus? Always the citrus." The upfront grapefruit, tangerine, lemon and orange aromas that add finesse to De Wet's wines were not always associated with the New-World style of Chardonnay.

"Fashion changes opinion," De Wet muses, swirling the wine in his glass, referring to a time not too long ago when South African Chardonnay was a variety too often exposed to over-oaking.

Today judicious use of oak and classy, elegant wines are the consumer's preferred option, and being able to deliver this indicates a mindful winemaker - in terms of trend and technique. De Wet describes his wines as "wines with personality; the style and the intelligence of the wine are in fine balance."

Clearly a man who likes a challenge, De Wet prefers his wines to be a sensorial map that lead the taster to the origin of the product. He is also a proponent of mature vines, which is why the question of the age of the original Bateleur vineyard is such a sensitive subject.

The big man sighs when I broach the topic. "Unfortunately it seems that the greybeard would have to be uprooted soon," he raises his eyes and then, in playful earnestness adds, "Do you know that the Old Testament forbids wine to be made from vines younger than seven years?"

Every vintage De Wet asks himself what nature has given to him before he proceeds with production in cellar. This approach rings especially true for Pinot Noir with its reputation of being a finicky grape.

At De Wetshof it's called Nature in Concert Pinot Noir in good years - which 2008 wasn't. (Tip: watch out for the 2009 Pinot Noir; different barrel samples deliver aromas of sour cherry and spicy clove, that even when haphazardly combined reveal an oriental Pinot Noir bouquet reminiscent of an Indian lady.)

Standing in the cellar between rows of new French barrels, with sons Peter and Johann, he hints that it's time for the young generation of De Wets to take over. "It is my 38th vintage this year," he laughs, "withstanding international vintages."

He shoots a glance at son Peter, assistant winemaker since 2007, and then adds, "But in the words of Sydney Back, when you can do 40 harvests then you are a very fortunate person."