Darling Wine Visits 3. Groote Post

We have many friends in the wine industry and, when we go on holiday in a wine producing area, we often get invitations to visit them. Groote Post is about half an hour from our holiday venue at Yzerfontein and we were invited to visit for a wine tasting with the winemaker Lukas Wentzel, followed by lunch at Hilda's restaurant. It was a very valuable visit; we tasted some very good wines and lunch was delicious

They have game on the farm and, as we were arriving, Lynne spotted what looked like some donkeys in the far distance. John's binoculars and then his long lens confirmed that they were Quaggas; we have not seen such evolved beasts before. So few stripes. There is a national programme of breeding Plains Zebras who carry the gene, to bring them back. They were mostly shot out in the 19th century. You can book to go on one of their Game drives. And bird life is abundant; they have a bird hide on the Klawervlei dam 

A warm welcome from Peter Pentz in the tasting room; he was expecting us. His grandfather, Peter senior (the Old Man – referenced in some of the wine labels and on a dish in the restaurant), also appeared briefly to say hello

The tasting room is looking very good since they have renovated it. Love the photograph of the vines on the wall

We went straight up to Hilda's Kitchen restaurant for our tasting. It is in the Groote Post Homestead which was built in 1808 and, for a while, was Cape Colony Governor Lord Charles Somerset's only genuine “shooting box”

Lukas showing us some eggs from Matilda, his pet chicken. And he generously sent us 'home' with some

This popular restaurant on the farm is run by Debbie, the Chef, and Shaun McLaughlin. The interior is filled with lovely old furniture and you get a feel for what the house must have felt like when the Duckitt family lived here in the 19th century. It was the home of well known author, Hildagonda Duckitt (1839-1905), who also produced a much loved cookbook. The restaurant is named after her

It was such a beautiful day that we opted to taste the wines and enjoy lunch in the sheltered courtyard

Shaun explaining the excellent menu and the specials

The menu

Lukas had a treat for us. The three vintages of SeaSalter Sauvignon Blanc, a wine we love and have bought all three vintages as they arrived. But such a treat to taste a line up of vintages. This wine is a good example of cool coastal Sauvignon Blanc, grown high up on the Groote Post hills in sight of the sea and seems to have picked up some of those sea salt flavours and minerality from the soil and the cooling sea breezes. It generally has some Semillon added, which brings fullness and complexity to this crisp classic. It is a superb food wine. The original 2018 had 10% Semillon and is full flavoured with Semillon showing first then the Sauvignon Blanc takes over. Aging well. The 2019 shows more Sauvignon Blanc first, with green pepper, elderflower, granadilla, then the Semillon dustiness appears. Crisp, full, so typical of Sauvignon with green flavours and lovely minerality and salt on the end. Showing so well, we loved it. The 2020 has a hint of smoky bacon, than green notes and is enticing. Big green flavours with figs, capsicum, and the fullness and greyness from the Semillon. It is a step up in quality, more sophisticated; it still has the steely minerality, but not as much salt. Lukas says he has been working hard on refining the blend

Next, we tasted two vintages of the Salt of the Earth. The 2018 is a blend of 67% Shiraz and 33% Cinsault. You can smell the Cinsault on the spicy nose and it is soft and silky with savoury umami notes on the very juicy red/black fruit palate, with good minerality on the end. The 2015 was the first vintage, Earthy on the nose, full of lovely fruit and incense wood and Groote Post’s classic minerality. It is still there, soft sweet fruit with a good kick from the fruit acids and some soft chalky tannins that will take it further

Then the Groote Post Merlot 2019. Spicy rich fruit, mulberry and cherry, soft incense wood, soft sweet berry fruit a good kick of supporting fruit acid and warm (14.5% alcohol ending with soft tannins). Delicious. The Darling soil adds the spice, Lukas says, and there is some salty licorice wood and minerality on the end. The 2017 Merlot has incense wood, subtle dark cherry fruit; it is very sophisticated on the nose. Soft with sweet cherries on the palate and again good supporting acid, wood and alcohol. A lasting wine, good with food

They now have two Cap Classiques, the original Brut Rosé, made from 70% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir. It has toasted brioche on the nose and a fine sherbety mousse with strawberry and raspberry candyfloss flavours. The new kid on the block is the Brut made from 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir. Notes of dried pears and fresh pears on the nose, very clean on the palate with a good prickle. Cooked apple and pears first, with green apple on the end. with long flavours

Time for our starters, John went for the Springbok carpaccio; perfect with the Salt of the Earth Shiraz blend

Lynne loves the Camembert and tomato tart with basil. The pastry is superb, buttery and crumbly

The camembert is really creamy and the baby tomatoes are packed full of flavour

Lukas could not join us for lunch; Peter did and we had a lovely time trying all the opened wines with the different dishes

If there is lamb on a menu, Lynne will order it. This was very tender slices of roast lamb in a rich tomato sauce,

with boiled potatoes and courgettes and carrots

The Merlot went perfectly with John's favourite dish at Hilda's, the Old Man’s Steak Sandwich,

which comes with huge chips and garlic aioli

The wine list

The lads managed dessert, Lynne abstained

The white chocolate cheesecake served with vanilla ice cream, fruit and cream is a great favourite

and on our way out, a pair of Blue Cranes

soon joined by others

We took the road through Darling; it gives you fine views, over the wheat fields, of the Groote Post vineyards on the hills

Groote Post is a large mixed farm with beef, wheat and a large area reserved for wild game

A really wonderful visit. Thank you all at Groote Post and PR Posy Hazell for organising it

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Darling Wine Visits. 1. Ormonde

When Berinda Basson of Ormonde wine estate in Darling read our horror story about our holiday accommodation in Yzerfontein on Facebook, she immediately invited us to their family farm for a tasting and a cheese platter. How could we refuse? We have always enjoyed their company, liked what they do on the farm and the wines are very good indeed

She and Theo, her husband, who is the owner and viticulturist, were there to greet us

We moved down to the tables on the patio to chat and catch up

Theo ordered some flights of wine from the tasting room and we relaxed

The first flight of wines was two different vintages of Chenin Blanc and two Sauvignons. The Chip off the Old Block single vineyard and the Ondine are grown in the cool climate of the area; the vineyards are at high altitude and in close proximity to the sea, so they get good cooling sea breezes. They both have that certain richness and complexity that Chenin can give. The Ondine Chenin was from the 2010 vintage and is incredible for its age; creamy, with the richness of golden fruit in layers of delight with lots of elegance and depth. There is only a small quantity left. Then two Sauvignon Blancs: The Chip off the Old Block Single vineyard is the classic green style we prefer, with asparagus, green fig leaves, and nettles. Crisp and dry on the palate. The Ondine also has asparagus, with riper fruit on the nose. Green capsicum with crisp zesty flavours and some minerality on the palate

The Chip off the Old Block Chenin Blanc

The cheese platter is so, so much more! Crisp bread almost like a lavach, a rich chicken liver paté in a jar, two local cheeses, one a camembert, watermelon konfyt, springbok carpaccio, fresh sourdough bread, two delicious waterblommetjie filo pasty tarts, a warm, deep fried croquette of sweet potato and ham, pears cooked in red wine, local cheese squares that have been marinated in wine and topped with peppadew and a sprig of rosemary, and two superb pecan pies in crisp buttery pastry. We shared one and still could not quite finish it. And it goes so well with all the wines

You need to book if you want to order one

http://www.ormonde.co.za/ or phone 022 492 3540

Then a tasting of some of the red wines. The Ondine Malbec has such richness, elegance, wood, cherries and mulberries; starts soft then becomes a fruit bomb and shouts "Hello I am here!", then finishes with some chalky tannins and class. Love it and have bought it. The Ormonde Merlot 2015 has green and woody notes on the nose, full of dark wood, red berry, plum fruit and some herbal flavours ending with a hint of chocolate mocca. The Ormonde Shiraz has incense wood, dark berry fruit and plums, spice and pepper on the nose and lots of ripe layered fruit on the juicy palate. The Ormonde Cabernet Sauvignon is just classic, with good French oak, complex cassis and dark cherry fruit, some spice and a little black pepper. The flagship 2013 Vernon Basson is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon and 45% Cabernet Franc from dryland vineyards and is very exciting. Lots of class and future. Savoury black fruit, vanillins from the wood, silky and smooth on the palate and ends with soft dry tannins and dark licorice wood

We sipped, tasted, ate and chatted for hours. What a lovely relaxed way to spend a holiday day

Thank you so much Berinda, Theo and Ormonde

A very tame Common Fiscal, also called Fiscal Shrike, (Lanius collaris) on an aloe leaf next to where we were tasting

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Darling Wine Visits 2. Darling Wine Shop and Darling Brewery

If we are in Darling, we always try to visit the Darling Wine Shop. Owner Charles Withington is a friend and it is always good to see him and catch up on the local wines and gossip. We spent some time with him this trip, tasting wine before going off for lunch at the Darling Brewery

We began with a really great wine, Nicky Versveld's 2012 Semillon, made for the Cape Winemakers' Guild Auction. It has peaches on the nose, lovely expected fatness on the palate from the Semillon and mature tastes of a good white port or dry, dry sherry. Scrumptious. If you have some, try it as an apéritif. We wish we had some

Charles is busy blending his Roan Ranger Red and wanted us to taste some of his new blends and comment on them

We had the current 2018 vintage - a blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvèdre

The Cinsault shows first, it has savoury notes with juicy red berries and salty licorice on the end

Then we tasted the new 2019 vintage, which also has those savoury umami notes first, soft and silky with juicy cherries and berries, and long flavours. The two blends A and B are very different. Both good in their own right but we preferred A which has lots of fruit , perfume on the nose. It draws you in, and repeats on the palate; a fruit bomb, and definitely a food wine. B was shyer, the wood shows as expensive oak, perfumed and with dry tannins and supporting fruit acids, this is one to put away to drink later. Charles has still to make his choice, but he said we helped a lot 

We took him to Darling Brewery for lunch (at his recommendation) and were not disappointed

The wines we had at lunch and Kevin Wood, owner of the Darling Brewery, who joined us for a chat

Charles had brought along two of Darling Cellars’ best wines:

Gustus, a complex, fruity and very sophisticated, layered Chenin

and Darling Lime Kilns Chardonnay, Dry and delightful, with crisp citrus flavours

The menu is very good and has quite a few vegetarian options

Lynne fancied fish again, so ordered the very fresh hake in crisp beer batter (what else in a brewery!)

and it came with vinegar, tartar sauce and tomato ketchup

and the most sensationally crisp chips ever, the outside is like glass and they melt inside

John had the famous hamburger which came with bacon and avocado

He'd had it before and knew how good it would be

Layers of bacon and a brioche bun so good that it wasn't left on the board

We were then taken on a tour of the spotless brewery by Kevin Wood

The company's original brewing vessels

and what they use now

KeyKeg, an innovative way of selling draught beer, made in Holland

https://www.keykeg.com/en/home

New steel kegs, costing R1600 each. These have become a problem in lock down,

as they are hired out for a deposit of R400 a time and many have been caught up in restaurant and bar closures. Ouch

Old Bourbon barrels which are used for a limited edition dark beer called ....

..... Arrow Head

and some of the finished product, Bone Crusher, a classic white beer, named for the hyena, ready to go out to the market

The Darling beers are very good, made the correct way with just three ingredients: Water, malted barley and hops

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