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CULTIVARS
100% Muscat d’Alexandrie

NOTES FROM THE WINEMAKER
A Muscat d’Alexandrie dessert wine is a national treasure. Floral & sweet citrus flavours complement the attractive perfume characteristics already associated with this unique variety. We try to emphasize the elegance of this dessert wine and hence try not to over­concentrate it with a sticky sweet palate. The 12 months this wine spent in a 300L French oak barrel adds a complexity and slight nuttiness. This wine will age beautifully for 10 years easily.

THE VINEYARD
The grapes used for this wine hail from a vineyard planted in 1987, the last plantings till supervised by the late Attie Louw, 5th generation on Opstal Estate. It’s low trellised and formed like a bush vine with the bearers well spread out and offering shade for the big bunches to ripen in.

IN THE CELLAR
After receiving the hand-picked grapes in the afternoon, they are crushed, destemmed, and left in the vacuum press overnight for 12 hours of skin contact. This allows for the beautiful muscat flavours to be extracted into the juice, which is then fortified with spirits to stop fermentation and preserve the pretty yet intense muscat characteristics. Key when making a fortified wine is time. You need enough time for the grape spirits to ease off and integrate with the juice to not be spirity or sharp, but rather gentle and velvety.

ANALYSIS
Alcohol % (VIV) 15.8
Residual Sugar (g/1) 178
Total Acidity (g/1) 4.1
pH 3.38