Opstal Estate Chenin blanc 2024

CULTIVARS
Chenin blanc

NOTES FROM THE WINEMAKER
We have Chenin planted on various sites on our farm and this wine is a mash-up of the best of these sites. It has a great balance of zippy freshness to go with its aromatic complexity. Attractive aromas of pineapple, pear and citrus are well held together with a subtle spice and leesy complexity from the 6 months that a component of this wine spent in large French oak Foudres, 3000l in size. The 2 vineyards used to make this wine was planted in 1982 and 2006 respectively.

WINE MAKING
CRUSHING & DESTEMMING: Grapes were crushed, destalked and pressed after 8 hours of skin contact.
FERMENTATION METHOD: Spontaneous fermentation – 25% in Barrels and large French oak vessels called Foudre, and 75% in concrete and stainless steel.
MATURATION: 6 months maturation on the fermentation lees with the oak component finishing malolactic fermentation.

Opstal Blush Rosé 2025

CULTIVARS
Grenache noir 49%, Carignan 40%, Muscat d’ Alexandrie 11%

NOTES FROM OUR WINEMAKER
The 2025 release of our BLUSH is a celebration of a bit of a gear change in the journey of this Opstal favorite. This Rose wine is made in the Saignee method, or put differently, by ‘bleeding off’ juice from a red wine ferment. In the case of this 2025 release we did it with the Grenache, Carignan, and also a little bit with the Cinsault ferment where we took some juice out of the red wine ferments after a few hours of skin contact. In this time some tannins were extracted which is the main difference in that we have a BLUSH now where we have great tension and presence on the palate to go with the bright and attractive aromas present on the nose and upon entry when taking your first sip. The color is still an attractive light color because of the Grenache especially not having huge amount of color enzymes in it’s skin. After blending these different pink juices together we also added some Muscat juice during fermentation as a sexy band mate to really make this wine sing.

HISTORY OF BLUSH
The Opstal BLUSH was first made in 2006 by 6th generation vintner, Stanley Louw when there was an oversupply of red wine in the market. He used Syrah and Viognier to make a elegant and dry Rose, inspired by those from the south of France. This was always a co-harvest where the white and red fruit arrived at the cellar and was pressed and fermented together. Even though we’ve now moved to the ‘bleeding off’ method with the Blush we still do a co-harvest in the case of the Sixpence Cinsault Rose where some Colombard is added. Now Stanley has 2 pinks to change from…

Opstal Jam

All our jam’s are made on our estate from local produce.
Your box will either include a peach jam or a Hanepoot jam

Spice

Your box will include a spice made by our farm manager Gerhard. Besides looking after the farm, he has a passion for mixing and blending spices.