Lourensford releases its butterfly

At the top end of Lourensford Road in Somerset West lies the Lourensford Wine Estate, all 4000 hectares of it.  We learnt from their cellarmaster, Hannes Nel,  that the temperature on the farm is often 4-8 degrees colder than their neighbour, Vergelegen. Pinot Noir is of course a perfect variety for the terroir, so looking forward to trying theirs out soon.

The farm also gets plenty of rain, approx 1 200mm of rain annually, with the Hottentots Holland Mountains above the farm getting the highest rainfall in the country - 3000mm per annum, so water is clearly not a problem. The area has had their fair share of fires though, which have been very scary.
Hannes has a Masters Degree in Microbiology (cum laude) from Stellenbosch University and soon after qualifying, joined Lourensford in 2002 in the lab and then moved over to making wine soon after.  
I attended a very intimate media lunch on Wed 20 June, held in the private Manor House for their first really significant wine media event, where the Chrysalis wines were revealed.  Hannes proudly took us through the 2 new wines in the portfolio - a white and a red blend - named Chrysalis because of the process of getting to this point being a real metamorphosis.

The wines are relatively high-priced - the white at R300, and red at R430 - but in fact the media group felt that they could push the price up further.  With only 1412 of the white and 2517 bottles of the red produced - my prediction is that they will be running out of this wine pretty soon.
Hannes was reluctant to reveal the varieties in the blends, as he really feels the wine should stand for itself, which we all felt they did. 
Both the wines are from the famed 2015 vintage, so do yourself a favour and stock up at their tasting room, and if you want a really special package - get them in their beautiful wooden presentation pack - a perfect gift to impress!

Lourensford as a destination has itself been through an impressive metamorphosis over the last 20 years, now hosting art galleries, restaurants, a coffee roastery, a wonderful grassy play area for families, weekend markets, a brewery, a Montessori school, the Aleit hospitality training academy, a Lifestyle Centre and plenty more!