Groote Post, the historic estate in the cool-climate Darling Hills, with its vineyard plantings on the south-facing upper slopes of the Kapokberg (the highest of the Darling Hills) overlooking the icy Atlantic Ocean, has become almost synonymous with Sauvignon Blanc since their maiden vintage Sauvignon Blanc was launched to high acclaim in 1999.
Owned by the Pentz family, the estate’s vineyard altitudes vary from 200m to 450m above sea level. The prevailing south-easterly winds from the Atlantic Ocean produce a long and cool ripening period, which enables the growth of high quality grapes with concentrated flavours and complexity. The soils in the sea-facing vineyards are deep, well-drained Hutton and Oakleaf, with moisture-retaining clay components. Groote Post’s unique terroir, a combination of soil, microclimate and aspect, is well-respected for its particular suitability to Sauvignon Blanc.
Rated 4 stars in the 2016 Platter’s guide the 2015 Sauvignon Blanc is described as a marriage of “Good ripe varietal expression” and “cool-climate freshness”. The Kapokberg Vineyard Selection Sauvignon Blanc, regularly rated 4½ stars in the Platter’s guide, is proclaimed “one of the most thrilling bottlings in the Cape” in the latest 2016 Platter’s guide.
Winemaker Lukas Wentzel is extremely happy with both of his 2015 Sauvignon Blancs, rating the 2015 vintage “a stand-out vintage, one of the best I have experienced in my 15 years at Groote Post. This was the earliest harvest I have experienced, with conditions making for an excellent Sauvignon Blanc year. Cooler conditions and a dry ripening season led to the formation of smaller berries, contributed to an extremely healthy and concentrated vintage, and produced fresher and fruitier wines”.
GROOTE POST SAUVIGNON BLANC 2015
Tasting notes: The 2015 vintage of Groote Post’s popular Sauvignon Blanc is a beautifully crisp wine with tropical fruit, gooseberries, ripe figs and guava abounding on the nose and the palate. A vibrant wine, the intense flavours are underpinned by a thread of minerality and a tangy fruity freshness that calls for a second glass.
Suggested food pairings: Brie and asparagus tart; Apple, walnut and celery salad; Wasabi pancakes with smoked trout; Calamari, fennel and lime salad, Mexican-styled salmon salad with avocado, tomato salsa and black beans, Roast lemon and herb chicken.
Retail price: Packaged in a stylish new bottle, the Groote Post Sauvignon Blanc 2015 retails nationally for ±R85.
GROOTE POST KAPOKBERG VINEYARD SELECTION SAUVIGNON BLANC 2015
Groote Post’s Kapokberg Vineyard Selection range is named after the Kapokberg, the highest of the Darling Hills at 459m above sea level, where some of the estate’s best grapes are grown. Hildagonda Duckitt, Groote Post’s ‘Grande Dame of Cape Cuisine’, who was born at Groote Post in 1840 and spent more than half her life at this historic farm, loved to ride her horse up the Kapokberg. In one of her famous books, Hilda’s Diary of a Cape Housekeeper, published in the 1890’s, she wrote: “Standing on the hill one gets a lovely view of the country for almost one hundred miles around. Table Mountain stands due south, and from no other place have I seen so perfect a view of the “Table” and “Twelve Apostles”. On the west the wide Atlantic stretches before your gaze with only little “Dassen Island” like a speck on the horizon.”
Groote Post’s highly-acclaimed Kapokberg Vineyard Selection Sauvignon Blanc is produced from a specific low-yielding vineyard block on the Kapokberg that consistently yields grapes with the most intense fruit concentration, pronounced minerality and green notes. “We harvest twice, with a 10 day gap in between, to capture different fruit spectrums, and we only use the free-run juice and allow longer lees contact to impart impressive palate presence and complexity”, says Lukas Wentzel.
Tasting notes: This wine is typical Darling, with minerality in abundance. Fresh cut grass and green aromas are prominent on the nose, while citrus and quince abound on the palate. Well integrated acidity and abundant flavours give the wine great length.
Suggested food pairings: Tomato, goats cheese and poppy-seed tarts; Lemon chicken and marinated artichoke pasta; Savoury pancakes filled with cheese, spinach and tomato, Chargrilled chicken with Asian slaw.
Retail price: The Groote Post Kapokberg Vineyard Selection Sauvignon Blanc 2015 retails nationally for ±R130.
Groote Post Vineyards
Tel: 022 492 2825 · Email: wine@grootepost.co.za · Website: www.grootepost.co.za
Not for sale to persons under the age of 18. Enjoy Responsibly.