WINE, FOOD, AND EVERYTHING THAT'S GOOD!

Not so long ago I attended a tasting where I was seated next to Nick Gebers, owner and winemaker of Post House Wines.  A few wines in, we were “well-oiled” and conversation began to flow.  Apart from the general wine chatter, jokes, and hearsay, Nick mentioned to me that he had recently released Post House’s very first Bordeaux-style blend, Raithby Road.  From what I could recall (last visited the farm back in 2021), the Post House wines were increasingly powerful, dark and super concentrated.  Wines produced “loudly and proudly, and with a bit of funk”. I was intrigued to taste Nick’s latest creation.

When it comes to winemaking, Nick stands apart from the crowd.  There is no strict recipe. He lets the land, the vintage, and his instinct guide him.  This is one of the many reasons why Post House wines have a rustic charm about them.  It’s like the wines taste familiar, but at the same time, super unconventional.  

Nick is a self-taught winemaker, who actually studied a BCom in Accounting!  After quickly realising commerce wasn’t for him, he found himself searching for a medium which would allow for the nurturing his artistic expression.  He wanted to create.  To work with his hands, to shape something real…  And, this ultimately led Nick to the culture of wine.

Art was (and still is) a deep personal passion, with a few of his personal paintings decorating, and adding further personality to the walls of the Post House tasting room/cellar.  The level of talent is astounding. You really need to go and see for yourself!

When Nick returned from some time abroad in the 1990s, he brought with him a new vision which was to bottle wine under his own label, without any restrictions.  In 1997, the first Post House wine was produced, and by 1999, the brand as we know it took shape – giving way to wines honest, soulful, and deeply rooted in place.

Post House is unlike many producers in the Helderberg.  Everything is done naturally (open-tank fermentation, basket pressing, minimal interference etc.). The gravelly, iron-rich “koffieklip” soils give the wines a signature structure, depth and colour, while the proximity to the coast (just 4km away) brings about a subtle freshness which balances the power derived from the Post House fruit.

Nick’s ethos is simple, less is more.  The winemaking is traditional, but he embraces the flexibility of the new world.  It’s all about finding a balance between minimal interference and intervening when necessary.  

I asked whether Post House falls within Stellenbosch’s famed “Golden Triangle”. “No,” Nick said with a grin, “but on this side of the R44, we’re in what I call the Platinum Ridge!”. I won’t lie, I had a good laugh.

Ok, let’s keep pushing on! A New Chapter.  The Bordeaux-style Blend. The Raithby Road. Simply named after the road where the farm is situated – as mentioned above, less is more. However, this wine is anything but simple.

The newest release from Post House marks a decade-long dream finally realised, a full Bordeaux-style blend made with all five classic varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec.

The ambition was always there, but the vines first had to be planted, and fruit matured. And now, with Cabernet Franc fully integrated, Nick has finally been able to produce a Bordeaux-style red with the Post House identity.  

The wine has an incredibly deep ruby colour and shows pronounced aromas and flavours of blueberry, black cherry, black plum, with hints of fynbos, cedar and tobacco.  The intense concentration of fruit is balanced by the high acidity, adding to the wine’s lively character.  The wine showcases a high, firm, tannic structure, full body, and a long, powerful, thought-provoking finish.  Drink it now, or be patient and you’ll be rewarded with further complexity and “storytelling” as the wine develops gradually over time.  A truly outstanding first release!  

I’ve used this description only a few times over the years, but the Raithby Road is what I’d call, “elegantly aggressive”.  

Only the best barrels from each variety are selected for this wine, matured for 24 months in 225L French oak barriques, with a touch more new oak (versus the other reds in the portfolio) to elevate the structure of the wine, and give it that prestigious edge. With only 2,000 bottles produced, and priced at R420 per bottle, Raithby Road is worth every single cent!

What I appreciated most after tasting these wines (first time in a long time) is that Nick has changed his approach to picking times, fermentation temperatures and extraction.  Through only a few subtle winemaking changes, he’s brought about a fresher, clearer and more expressive version of Post House wines.

In my opinion, there are only a handful of farms who are able to capture their sense of place and bottle it for wine enthusiasts to experience. By this I mean, producing wines which smell like the farm, and like the cellar itself. Wines which have the ability to transport you back to the moment you first tried them – in their very own surrounding. Post House manages to do this, making their wines so very special.

Other noteworthy wines (besides for all of them, of course) would be:

• Stamp of Chenin 2024 (Barrel fermented Chenin Blanc)
• Stormy Hope 2022 (100% Petit Verdot)

Both of these wines were top-notch, and showed amazing varietal typicity.

If I had to describe Post House Wines in one word, it would be, wholesome.  Earthy, honest, and a little eccentric – just like Nick!

Buy the wine here.  Or why not visit the source, the old Helderberg post office itself, now home to one of the most quietly distinctive producers in the region, Post House Wines.