Stanley Louw

Born in September 1954 in Rawsonville, the first child of Attie and Ansie Louw. Went to school at the local Goudini High where I matriculated in 1972 and was elected to be the headboy of 1972. Went to the University of Stellenbosch in 1973 and received my BSc degree in 1977 with Oenology and Viticulture as major subjects. After University I completed my two years military service and was involved in Civic action projects where we teached farming practises in the rural areas.

Born in September 1954 in Rawsonville, the first child of Attie and Ansie Louw. Went to school at the local Goudini High where I matriculated in 1972 and was elected to be the headboy of 1972. Went to the University of Stellenbosch in 1973 and received my BSc degree in 1977 with Oenology and Viticulture as major subjects. After University I completed my two years military service and was involved in Civic action projects where we teached farming practises in the rural areas. At the end of my second year of military service I got married to Ria and we joined my father and mother on the Estate. I was fortunate to farm the Estate with my father for seven years before he passed away in 1987. We have got three children, two boys and a girl: Attie, 18 years old; Brethia, 16 years old and Izak, 11 years old. In 1987 a block of Chenin Blanc that was planted in 1981 was judged to be the SA champion block of vineyards for that year. This was my first real achievement and gave my self confidence a great boost. Opstal Estate has been bottling wine since 1978, but the bulk of the wine were sold to SFW, Distillers and KWV. In the late 80’s and early 90’s we started with the planting of cultivars that could be used for much better quality wines. In 1996 the first Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon was made and in 1997 the first Opstal wines under a new label and logo was introduced to the export market with great succes. The introduction of Neotron probes in 1997 lead to the accurate utilisation of soil water to improve the quality of our wines. Veritas Gold, Reserve Champion Cabernet Sauvignon, Several Gold, Silver and Bronze medals over the past years have established Opstal Estate Wines. In 1997 I received the certificate in winejudging. Active participations in the local community includes: Director of Boland Agri Member of the desentralised tasting panel Chairperson of Breedekloof Wine and Tourism