Groote Post releases new vintages

The 2011 Groote Post Unwooded Chardonnay is a refreshing white wine. Rated four stars by the Platter's SA Wine Guide year after year, this wine displays citrus and lime aromas, and rich flavours of marmalade and preserved ginger. Its full flavours, excellent fruit, creaminess, good length and lively acid structure make it an ideal food wine. A favourite food pairing from Groote Post's Hilda's Kitchen restaurant is lemon and herb roast chicken on quinoa tabbouleh.

Lukas Wentzel, winemaker at Groote Post, commented on the 2011 Groote Post Unwooded Chardonnay harvest and winemaking: "The latter part of the growing season was very hot and dry, which posed the threat that the grapes could over-ripen too early; however careful monitoring and canopy management aided us in achieving optimum ripeness. This unwooded style of chardonnay is about maintaining freshness and, therefore, we harvest early to capture fruit flavours and we keep the grapes at 14 to 18°C during the crush, skin contact period and fermentation. The fermentation lasted 12 days and the wine then spent three months on the lees, which added a lovely richness."

The Groote Post Unwooded Chardonnay 2011 retails nationally at approximately R70.

A more European-style Pinot Noir

Lukas Wetzel is very enthusiastic about the release of the Groote Post Reserve Pinot Noir 2009: "To produce a top-quality pinot in South Africa you need the right cool climate terroir, the best vineyard sitings, judicious vine management and crop control, suitable ripening conditions, careful grape selection, good cellar practices and some luck. All of that came together in 2009 to produce one of our best vintages to date. Our 18-year-old pinot noir vineyards are 400m above sea-level, face the chilly Atlantic Ocean and our yield is only three to four tons per hectare. We were able to capture generous fruit with ample weight on the palate." The 2009 Groote Post Reserve Pinot Noir, rated four stars by Wine magazine in 2011 as well as the 2012 Platter's SA Wine Guide, is a more European-style Pinot Noir than previous vintages. It displays suitably restrained plum and raspberry notes with savoury, dried-beef flavours. A subtle hint of forest floor and mushrooms underpins the earthy characteristic of pinot noir, yielding a refined and soft wine with silky smooth, finely defined tannins. Judicious oaking (12 months in second fill and older 500-litre French oak) adds vanilla and spice to a medley of dark berry flavours.

As regards suggested food pairings, Nick Pentz passionately stated: "Our Reserve Pinot Noir 2009 is right up there with our best to date and foremost on my mind when I have got my venison pot simmering away on the fire."

The Groote Post Reserve Pinot Noir 2009 retails nationally at approximately R135.