CULTIVARS
Chenin blanc

NOTES FROM THE WINEMAKER
This vineyard (SN24 clone) was planted in 2006 and is the highest vineyard on the farm at 365m altitude. It is probably also my favorite site at this moment, showing real depth and concentration in the fruit from the clay rich sandstone and shale soil. The beauty of this wine is that it comes with power and concentration of flavour while still showing beautiful acidity and balance – all attributed to this site with the analysis backing it up with a 13,95 alcohol and 3,39pH and 5,7g/L Total acidity post malolactic fermentation. We call the vineyard the Bergsteen (Mountain Chenin) and through the label we’ve tried to point out the unique characteristics of this site and wine.

Over the last 10 years we have made Chenin blanc our main focus at Opstal with our Carl Everson wine being the flag bearer. Our beloved Carl Everson has done most of the heavy lifting, but now we have 2 new Chenin crackers to compliment and show off our estate’s identity and further drive home the message that Chenin feels at home in our soils. We have Chenin planted on different soil types, sites and slopes with further differences in clones and rootstock combinations. In the cellar we have different vessels which we feel goes best with these different types of Chenin juices to best depict the differences mentioned earlier. That brought about the Single Site Series where we celebrate the excellence of Chenin blanc. These are small batch wines, available in limited quantities as we want most of our sales partners and markets to also have some to share in telling the Opstal story.

ANALYSIS
Alcohol % (V/V) 13.95%
Residual Sugar (g/l) 4,1 g/l
Total Acidity (g/l) 5,7 g/l
pH 3,39