AFTER winning a gold medal at the 2016 Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships earlier in the year, Graham Beck’s 2009 Cuvée Clive Cap Classique was subsequently honoured as one of the 11 National Champions at the trophy awards dinner in London. For the other top South African achievers in the competition, see here. For the full competition results, see here. At
Read moreGOODBYE to Pheasants’ Run Sauvignon Blanc, hasta la vista Bowed Head Chenin Blanc, The Ridge Syrah, Coffeestone Cabernet and then some – at least under the Graham Beck banner, that is! In a brand rationalisation that will see everything without a bubble stripped from the range, Robertson’s leading sparkling wine producer and one of South Africa’s top three Méthode Cap Classique
Read more“I only drink Champagne when I’m happy, and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I am not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty” – Lily Bollinger (1899 – 1977), proprietor of French Champagne house
Read moreASKED to come up with a line-up of wines he “considered as South Africa’s aspirational Cap Classiques” that wine lovers won’t buy or drink every day, Graham Beck cellarmaster Pieter Ferreira chose a selection that he regarded as “under the radar but sparkling up a storm”. His presentation along these lines was at the 2015 Cape Wine trade show in the
Read moreA SURPRISING result, to say the least! The winner of the 2015 Amorim Cork Cap Classique Challenge contested by 114 bubblies comes from a farm better known for red wines, especially Pinotage, aromatic whites including Gewürztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc – and not forgetting the Italian variety Barbera. However, while Altydgedacht has been making sparklers from Chardonnay in the traditional way since 2008,
Read moreAVONDALE has been rated top MCC sparkling wine after several rounds of ‘blind’ tastings chaired by one of the world authorities on bubbly and a panel of judges including Masters of Wine and one of the gurus of the Australian wine industry. The Paarl cellar won the trophy for best South African sparkling wine at the 2015 ‘Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships’ with their
Read moreSTELLENRUST Clement de Lure MCC Brut NV was recently chosen as the favourite sparkling wine in a line-up of 44 bubblies judged ‘blind’ (labels out of sight) by a group of knowledgeable wine folk who’d gathered at the upmarket Harrow restaurant at Little Bedwyn in Marlborough, Wiltshire UK. A “shock result” was how the organisers of the inaugural Little Bedwyn World Sparkling Wine
Read moreAT THE DAWN of the new millennium there were only 20 or so South African wineries producing sparkling wine according to the traditional or classic method for which the French are famous. Today there are over 100 cellars in the Cape making Cap Classique on a regular or occasional basis. The category has been booming, in part at least thanks
Read moreSOUTH AFRICA’S 2014 Wine & Cellar Classifications on the basis of the best track records in 25 local and international blind-tasting forums over the past 10 years have just been released. To be eligible for Classification, a wine must have been made and bottled in South Africa and must have earned very good reviews by at least one of the
Read moreTHE STAND-OUT Cap Classique sparkling wines, the best South African bubbly reviews of the year by experts around the globe. Once again the big guns command attention for all the right reasons, but there are now also plenty of other sparklers offering better value than Champagne. Bring on the festive season! Boschendal Grande Cuvée Brut 2007 – trophy at Classic Awards, Top 100
Read moreIF YOU’RE planning a sparkling occasion with folk who appreciate the finer things in life and want to make sure they enjoy the bubbly you’re serving, well… According to some of the best wine critics locally and in the UK, the following vintage Cap Classiques will do very nicely thank you – and in most instances for less than a
Read moreGOOD VALUE sparkling wine from South Africa – Cap Classique for less than R95 per bottle as recommended by one or more of the top tasting panels around the world during the past 18 months. Prices given in SA rand – ex-cellar, or approximate retail in the case of wineries not open to the public. At R70pb – JC
Read moreVILLIERA cellarmaster Jeff Grier and sales boss Cathy Grier-Brewer are among the best ambassadors for the Stellenbosch wine route. Cape Wine Masters of many years standing and, together with fellow director and viticulturist Simon Grier, at the helm of a winery with a reputation for good Cap Classique sparklers and several other fine wines, the siblings were as welcoming as
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