Laing Groendruif

Grilled salmon or soft cheeses.

Trekpoort, the late Henk Laing’s farm, is located in the Skurfberg Mountains near Clanwilliam. Laing has an in-depth understanding of this area, the grapes, the weather, the animals, and the fynbos, having walked these soils with his father decades ago at harvest. The metre-tall bush vines planted in 1956 have weathered 67 years of heat and, despite a lack of water, continue to yield grapes that make intense, weighty wines with plenty of character. The vines are grown in red sand on clay among wheat fields, apricot trees, rooibos tea bushes, and fynbos. Its proximity to the ocean, the hot days with cool nights and the age of the bush vines all contribute to ripeness and high natural acidity. A warm and dry winter preceded the 2023 harvest, with fairly even budding occurring slightly earlier than the previous year. The warm conditions continued throughout the growing season, eventually leading to a lighter crop in most regions. Heavy rains early in December brought great relief and ensured that the vines were in good condition leading up to harvest. For most of the season, conditions were ideal, and the fruit quality was outstanding. In March, unusually high and continuous rainfall created some challenges for later-ripening regions and varietals. Overall, a great quality vintage that promises to deliver some outstanding wines.

Before being blended and bottled, the wine spent two months on the lees without malolactic fermentation.

The grapes were transported in refrigerated trucks roughly 260 kilometers to the cellar and cooled overnight. Bunches were handsorted before being pressed whole-bunch the next day, and the juice settled overnight. 55% of the juice was then racked into a stainless steel tank, with the remaining 45% going into 2nd and 3rd fill 500L French oak barrels to ferment spontaneously.

This is a range created in recognition of the Cape of Good Hope’s vinous heritage which stretches back more than 350 years when the first Governor of the Cape planted grapes. These unique wines are the result of irreplaceable parcels of old vines and site specific terroirs. The labels reflect the grape variety as well as the origin and singular characters behind them.