Bayten Buitenverwachting Chardonnay 2003

One of South Africa’s premier wine farms, the beautiful Bayten estate is situated on east-facing slopes of the magnificent Constantiaberg mountain, just south of Cape Town and a few short miles from False Bay. This cool-climate coastal area is renowned for elegant white wines that possess an intense, minerality.

In 1981, the Mueller family purchased the estate and began to replant the vineyards and restore this shining jewel to its former glory. Under the direction of current proprietor Lars Maack, a modern wine cellar was constructed, featuring state-of-the-art winemaking equipment and a temperature controlled barrel maturation area with a capacity of 3,000 barrels.Today Bayten has earned a reputation as the source of some of South Africa’s most exquisite, mineral-tinged white wines. From racy Sauvignon Blancs to elegant Meursault-like Chardonnays, cellar master Hermann Kirschbaum and winemaker Brad Paton continue to craft stunning wines that deliver on that promise to exhilarate the senses.

Bayten’s vineyards, planted on a variety of ancient decomposed granite soils, are dry farmed, with an average yield of five tons per hectare. The farm embraces a variety of holistic farming practices, and even allows free running baboons to perform a natural “green cropping” of sorts. A portion of the estate has been dedicated to a conservancy in order to preserve indigenous flora and fauna, and a section of the vineyards is currently undergoing organic certification. Bayten is also home to one of South Africa’s finest restaurants, consistently rated among the top ten in the country.