Franschhoek and fizz

Thursday, January 24th, 2013

The first weekend in December should be circled in red on any bubbly enthusiast’s calendar. That’s when the self-styled gourmet food and wine capital of the country hosts its annual Methode Cap Classique and Champagne festival.

But Franschhoek recently gave members of the local wine media a sneak preview of its relaunched Cap Classique route. Franschhoek Vignerons head Irene Waller of La Bri said their organisation now had 18 members, 16 of which produced bubblies in a range of different styles. Newcomers to the ranks include Plaisir de Merle, Grande Provence and La Motte.

The wines tasted at the media launch included Dieu Donné 2010, Pierre Jourdan Blanc de Blancs NV from Haute Cabriere, Môreson Solitaire Blanc de Blancs NV, L’Ormarins Brut Classique 2008, Colmant Brut Reserve NV, Plaisir de Merle’s inaugural offering – the Grand Brut 2010, La Motte Brut 2009, Backsberg Brut 2008, Stony Brook The Lyle 2007, Rickety Bridge Brut Rosé 2010, Boschendal Le Grande Pavillon Brut Rosé NV and Morena Brut Rosé.

Interesting points made by some of the winemakers present included the subtle nuances now becoming more and more obvious in their bubblies. The use of reserve wines, for example. Clayton Reabow of Môreson said that this was a feature of the Solitaire. There are generally portions from two previous vintages contained in the current bottling. Only in exceptional years will their winery produce a vintage MCC – “but then it will be something very, very special and reflective of a superb vintage.”

Specialist bubbly producer and passionate advocate of this style of wine Jean-Philippe Colmant is of the opinion that freshness and vibrant acidity is key to his wines – so he foregoes malolactic fermentation as part of his regime.

Haute Cabriere’s Tamo von Arnim proved that the genetic apple had not fallen far from the tree by entertaining everyone with tales of his father’s exploits. More seriously though, he said it was now a feature of Pierre Jourdan sparkling wines to have an oak matured component to flesh out the body and add more richness and texture to the final wine.

Softly-spoken Niel Bester admitted that he was excited by the challenge of making MCC. “We’ve made some base wines for some of our sister labels over the years,” he revealed. “It’s something I always wanted to do but with the Plaisir de Merle Manor House undergoing a renovation in 2009 and becoming a popular venue for functions and weddings, the marketing department decided that we needed to have a bubbly to cater specifically for these events.”

And slumbering quietly in the La Bri cellar is a bubbly due for release in a year or two’s time, Irene Waller revealed. “I spent so many years making Cap Classique at Graham Beck that it was a non-negotiable for me when I joined La Bri! It was always part of the plan to make a bubbly and we’ve done it with some bought in grapes.”

But the most entertaining contribution came from Morena’s Nick Davies who revealed a seduction formula derived in consultation with his two bachelor sons. It involved a Jacuzzi with a sea view on the deck at a Plettenberg Bay beach house, lovely bikini-clad ladies and Morena bubbly. “We decided that the successful scoring formula was 25% for the view, 25% for the Jacuzzi, 47.5% for the bubbly and 2.5% for my son’s personality. But we had to revise that and add the 2.5% for personality onto the view, deciding that he should just shut up and keep the glasses topped up with Morena bubbly!”