Wine Tasting and 3 Course Dinner at Skye Bistro with Groote Post
Posted on: September 30, 2020, in News
Wine Tasting event and 3 Course Dinner at Skye Bistro with Groote Post on Wednesday, 7 October 2020. Bookings essential – for bookings and enquiries please contact Purity on Tel: 033 266 6217 or Email: reservations@fordoun.co.za
What makes Groote Post special:
- Groote Post is situated 7km from the cold Atlantic. The cooling effect of the ocean creates an ideal climate in which vine flourish, providing a longer growing season with greater build up of flavours in the berries.
- Properties just 5km further inland do not have these benefits, and end up picking, especially Sauvignon Blanc, 3 weeks earlier than us.
- Our soils have high clay content, are deep and well-drained, providing the vine with the necessary nourishment throughout the growing season.
- A focused wine growing team, spear-headed by the Pentz family, dedicated to producing world class wines.
- The cool climate Darling Hills are perfectly suited to Sauvignon Blanc, which makes up a third of all wine produced at Groote Post.
- The Darling Hills have some of the best viticultural sites in South Africa.
- Groote Post has a very rustic, country like, west-coast feel about it, which visitors find very appealing. This makes a visit to Groote Post unforgettable, as the countryside is so different to other wine areas.
- A very welcoming and knowledgeable Cellar Door Team provide a wonderful wine experience and our hospitality is extended to our restaurant in the Manor House.
- Beautiful Cape Dutch Architecture. All buildings are National Monuments dating back to the late 18th century.
Peter and Nicholas Pentz farm on a 3000 ha property, Groote Post, up the West Coast, 1 hour from Cape Town outside the town of Darling. Our family has been involved in farming for 100 years, mostly in the dairy industry.
Up to 1993 strict grape production quota restrictions were in place, which prevented vineyards being planted at Groote Post. With the abolishment of these quotas in 1993, we decided to diversify our farming operations into grape production. After very extensive soil tests the best soils were identified to plant to noble cultivars. The soils are all deep, well drained, moisture-retaining Hutton and Oak leaf types. 103 ha have been planted to date and include Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Weisser Riesling, Semillon and Chenin Blanc. Our wine production is 65% white wine and 35% red wine.
The vineyards are situated on the southern slopes of the Darling Hills, 5km from the Atlantic. The Darling area has seen a tremendous amount of investment in new vineyards and wineries in the past 10 years. The area is seen to be one of the upcoming areas of quality wine production in South Africa with its tremendous soils and Atlantic – influenced cool climate.
The first 3 years production of grapes was delivered to a local cooperative winery. The grapes were vinified separately up to the blending stage. This gave us a good idea of the superior quality grapes being produced off our property resulting in an equally good wine and thus spurred us on to build a winery.
At the end of 1998 we renovated an old 18th century fort to house our 500-ton winery. The property also has two 18th century homes, which are both national monuments, the Manor house of which was the shooting lodge of Lord Charles Somerset, Governor to the Cape in the early 1800’s.
Our aim is to produce world-class wines, giving attention to every detail from the vineyards through the cellar and on to marketing of our wines. Lukas Wentzel is the winemaker and has now completed 19 vintages at Groote Post, prior to which he was assistant winemaker at La Motte Wine Estate. Our pursuit for excellence has been rewarded
with numerous wine awards. Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Shiraz are the wines which are leading the way for us and are our main focus. 80% of our wine is sold in S.A. and 20% exported.