South Africa ( Darling Hills Road, Darling, 7345, South Africa )
Groote Post is situated 64 Km North of Capetown near Darling. Situated close to the coast the farm has more than 2000ha of which approx.. 150 ha are under wine. The vineyards are close to the coast where the cold Atlantic sea brings moisture and the needed temperature differences needed to make good wines. On the site itself the old historic building was preserved through the centuries and still gives today a good impression of life in the Cape in the 1800th.
1808 - The Napoleonic Wars were uniting Europe - French troops occupied Rome and Madrid - Russia had conquered Finland and the dreaded Spanish Inquisition had finally been abolished. Beethoven presented to the world his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies and America banned the importation of slaves from Africa. Some 64 kilometers north of Cape Town, close to the hill known as Kapokberg, the land spreads a lush green carpet all the way to the shores of Saldanha Lagoon. In 1808 this was Groene Kloof (now known as Mamre) where many of the vegetables required to supply the fleets of the Dutch East India Company were grown. Here, too, grazing was necessary to support the great herds of cattle and flocks of sheep owned by the Honourable Company. In those far off days the Hottentots were adept at slipping into the area unobserved and making off with a few choice head of cattle. The cattle raids became more and more frequent until it was decided to establish a system of guards at ‘posts’ where the animals were most frequently driven for grazing. The biggest and most important of these guard stations was known as ‘Groote Post’. On the 25th January 1815 the farm was transferred to William Duckitt who had been sent to the Cape in 1800 by King George III to take up the position of Superintendent of Agriculture. At that time Groote Post was a sheep and cattle farm and stayed like this until the 1990´s. William Duckitt died at Klawer Valley in 1825 and he and his wife are buried there. His descendants owned the farm until 1957 – In 1972 Peter and Nick Pentz bought the farm and they are continuing the traditions established so many years ago. Third and fourth generation dairymen, Peter and Nick Pentz are hoping that, like cream, their Groote Post Wines will come out on top. In 2001 the Pentz family decided to sell off their prize Holsten herd to concentrate solely on the production of world-class wine. And, if the first accolade for their maiden release is anything to go by, they are well on their way. WINE magazine, in reviewing the 1999 Sauvignon Blanc vintage in their November issue, called it a vintage from hell and only picked out four 4-star wines. Notable, the two top Sauvignon Blancs, Neil Ellis Groenekloof and Groote Post, came from adjoining vineyards on the cool sea- and south-facing Kapokberg in the Darling Hills on the Cape West Coast, an area fast growing in stature as a wine growing area.
Lukas graduated from Elsenburg Agricultural College in 1997 as qualified winemaker. He worked for 3 years (1998 – 2000) at La Motte Wine Estate in Franschoek as assistant winemaker to Jacques Borman. In 1998 he worked a harvest in the Rhone Valley in France @ Saint Joseph where he gained tremendous experience working with Shiraz for which that area is famous for. 2002 – Lukas worked a vintage at Dry Creek Vineyards in Sonoma, California. Lukas has been winemaker at Groote Post since 2000. Groote Post wines has grown from strength to strength with Lukas at the helm. His winemaking philosophy is all about balance – from the vine to the bottle – and those who know him, know that this philosophy also reflects on his character.
