• Clear and bright with a fresh, clean aroma of melon, peach, yellow apple, lychee nut, gooseberry, and a touch of site-specific minerality.
• This light-bodied Sovereign Opal has the perfect balance of natural sweetness and acidity, along with flavours of tropical fruit, melon, and gooseberry.
• Lovely notes tropical fruit, pink grapefruit, lychee and white currant linger on the off-dry finish.
• Wonderful companion to grilled pork tenderloin with fruit chutneys; pork sliders with hoisin sauce; grilled pork chops; pork roast; stuffed pork tenderloin; baked ham (clove studded); mild Indian curries; light to moderately spiced Thai cuisine; Samosas or spring rolls with dipping sauces; Cajun chicken; Panang chicken; Paprika chicken; Creole crusted halibut; spicy shrimp skewers; Baba Ghanoush with pita bread; spiced hummus with pita bread; Brie and sliced pear on Panini.
GROWING CONDITIONS
The months of May and June experienced cool, wet conditions which slowed growth, disrupting some spring bud development thereby reducing crop load in the vineyards. Summer began with a bang and from early July through August there was consistent sunshine, high heat units and timely rains. A very warm September provided the perfect conditions for any lagging maturity resulting from the slow spring start. The great weather continued into October, extending hang time for some varietals that needed that extra push. Overall, it was a great growing season with healthy canopies, the ability for the vines to respond to the weather, and fewer periods of shut down due to extreme heat, therefore allowing grape maturity to continue on an even and steady rate with optimum conditions. [The Summerland region saw 1341 GDD; northern Okanagan Valley]/
| Wine Making | When the Sovereign Opal grapes are a perfect ripeness the team places small low-sided buckets in wheelbarrows, and head out to the vineyard to hand-pick the grapes. The lowest elevation vineyards, which typically ripen earliest, are harvested first, and picking progresses to higher elevations over the next five days, allowing perfect ripeness each day. Once the grapes have arrived at the winery, they are gently de-stemmed and pressed, allowing the juice to be separated from the skins. The juice is split into two lots and fermented separately using two different strains of yeast; one to promote a more tropical profile, while the other yeast promotes a stone fruit expression. After careful blending of each lot, the final blend is then aged for an additional 4 months in stainless steel tanks, then bottled and is ready to be enjoyed. Winemaker, Sandy Leier: “My goal is to promote a lot of lychee character in the aroma and flavour profile. We achieve that by picking at exactly the right time and controlling the fermentation temperature to retain that character.” |
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| Wine Analysis | Alcohol: 11.5% | Dryness Code: 1 | Sugar: 16.4 g/litre | TA: 6.9 g/litre | Cellaring: Enjoy now | Release Date: April 2021 | Cases Produced: 3168 | CSPC# 23841 | PID# 1193059 |
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