Vineyard Op gen Heugde in Noorbeek – voted the most beautiful village in the Netherlands by Elsevier in 2019 – was planted in 2004 by a number of enthusiastic wine lovers who joined forces in the Association for Winegrowing in Noorbeek. In 2020, the association was dissolved and the small vineyard (600 pinot gris vines) was taken over by Wijndomein Heerenhuys d’r Pley, which has three other wine estates in addition to Op gen Heugde. The best known of these is Wijngaard Noordal. A characterful, wood-matured wine is made from the chardonnay from this plot, which evokes associations with the better burgundies.
In recent years, Noorbeek has increasingly developed into a real wine village. It has a traditional distillery, where grape skins are processed into grappa. Op gen Heugde is the great pride of the Noorbeek winegrowers, because for them it is the place where it all began. The traditional breeds are sworn by.
Vineyard Op gen Heugde in 2004 the vineyard was planted by the association for Viticulture in Noorbeek. The association was founded specifically for cultivation and production by a number of enthusiastic hobbyists, who are still active in the vineyard despite some changes
The exploitation of the vineyard was taken over by Wijndomein Heerenhuys der Pley in 2020. Apart from the work in the vineyard, the association focuses mainly on promoting Noorbeek as a wine village and promoting the quality of viticulture in this region. The name Or gen Heugde (translated: 'On the Height') refers to the local name and location of the place where the vineyard is planted. The vineyard is situated in the north-eastern direction and the subsoil contains fluvial flint and marl, deposited by the Meuse approximately 2.2 million years ago. The topsoil contains a layer of loess, which increases in thickness as it slopes towards the valley.
The vineyard comprises approximately 1350 Pinot Gris vines. This noble variety has a dark skin when ripe, but produces a dry white wine. After harvesting and the first fermentation, the juice is stored in stainless steel barrels, where the fermentation and processing continues until there is sufficient balance between the acids and the sweetness in the wine. It has a typical characteristic, refreshing, with beautiful soft acids such as apple and peach and the taste is full-bodied, floral and enriched by the wood aging: The association members provide important support in the maintenance of the vineyard, the harvesting, the winemaking and the bottling of the wine. The aim is for a fully biodynamic processing. The yield of the vineyard is approximately 600 bottles, in the meantime, several members of the association have planted their own vineyard in addition to the joint vineyard and the Op gen Heugde vineyard is therefore the cradle for the development and expansion of the total wine growing in Noorbeek
When you walk through vineyards in France, Italy or Spain you sometimes see rose bushes planted in a vineyard. Do winegrowers do this for aesthetic reasons or is there another explanation?
Early warning Yes, there is a reason behind this. The rose bush is planted at the end of rows as a kind of warning system for the winegrower. They attract insects such as aphids to the vines. But a rose bush is also susceptible to fungi and gets fungal diseases such as black rot and mildew before the vines. We now know that the type of mildew that roses are susceptible to is not the same as vines, but if the conditions are good for mildew on roses, you can be sure that they are also good for downy mildew on vines. So as soon as a winegrower sees that the rose is sick, he or she can immediately start combating the fungus before the vines are affected.
(False) mildew But what are these fungi? For example, there is mildew and false mildew that are dangerous for the growth of the leaves and the grapes. In spring and early summer, the grapevine is very sensitive to false mildew. This attacks the chlorophyll and forms yellowish spots on the leaves. Because the green is affected, the grape cannot grow as well and the grapes will also develop poorly. Mildew occurs mainly in summer with warm and humid weather and forms a white or grey mould haze on the plant and on the skins of the grapes. The taste of the grape deteriorates drastically and in the worst case the entire harvest is lost.
Combating fungi As a winegrower, you cannot just spray away to protect your grapes against all kinds of fungi and diseases. There are strict rules for the substances that may be used, as well as how often and how much may be sprayed. If you are an organic winegrower, you are allowed to use even less.
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