So frustrating! Boschendal Grande Cuvée Brut 2009 wins Cap Classique Challenge but you can’t buy it – not yet
BOSCHENDAL bubbly winemaker Lizelle Gerber is on a roll. The 2008 vintage of the Grande Cuvée Brut didn’t perform as spectacularly as her 2007 but the 2009 is off to a great start with a gold medal at the recent Michelangelo Awards and now first place in the latest Amorim Tsogo Sun Méthode Cap Classique Challenge even before the wine is released onto the market. Word from the tasting room at Boschendal on the perimeter of Franschhoek is that their latest champion probably won’t go on sale until after the Veritas Awards are announced in October! And pretty much the same applies to the winning Blanc de Blancs bubbly from Rickety Bridge in the Franschhoek Valley, with their 2009 also not on sale as yet and nobody on the farm prepared to say when it will be.
Almost all of the producers represented in Top Wine SA’s 2013 Bubbly Classification are among the latest MCC Challenge trophy or medal laureates. It’s good to see the quality consistency that the market leaders have shown year after year. And what many wine lovers will fancy doing in the run-up to the festive season is to experiment with newcomers to the ranks of Cap Classique producers of which there are now about 100. Not that Boschendal is new to the game – it’s more a case of born again. For a while their sparkling wines took a back seat, but this showpiece property was among the pioneers of bottle-fermentation, remuage (riddling) and dégorgement in South Africa along the lines of the production method made famous in Champagne, France.
For quite some time the rivalry for top gun status has been a case of Franschhoek vs Robertson vs Stellenbosch, but the playing field now includes cellars in almost all of the country’s wine-producing areas. It’s no longer inconceivable that future Classifications and MCC Challenge winners will feature producers located in places as far outside the traditional Cape winemaking strongholds as Hermanus, Elgin or the Cederberg.
Almost all of the producers represented in Top Wine SA’s 2013 Bubbly Classification are among the latest MCC Challenge trophy or medal laureates. It’s good to see the quality consistency that the market leaders have shown year after year. And what many wine lovers will fancy doing in the run-up to the festive season is to experiment with newcomers to the ranks of Cap Classique producers of which there are now about 100. Not that Boschendal is new to the game – it’s more a case of born again. For a while their sparkling wines took a back seat, but this showpiece property was among the pioneers of bottle-fermentation, remuage (riddling) and dégorgement in South Africa along the lines of the production method made famous in Champagne, France.
For quite some time the rivalry for top gun status has been a case of Franschhoek vs Robertson vs Stellenbosch, but the playing field now includes cellars in almost all of the country’s wine-producing areas. It’s no longer inconceivable that future Classifications and MCC Challenge winners will feature producers located in places as far outside the traditional Cape winemaking strongholds as Hermanus, Elgin or the Cederberg.
For more info about the Challenge and the Cap Classique Producers Association, click here. The highlights of the 2013 competition results are as follows:
CATEGORY WINNERS
CATEGORY WINNERS
Boschendal Grande Cuvée Brut 2009 – Best Vintage Brut, Overall Winner
Colmant Brut Reserve NV – Best Non-Vintage Brut
Colmant Brut Chardonnay NV Best Non-Vintage Blanc de Blancs
Colmant Brut Chardonnay NV Best Non-Vintage Blanc de Blancs
Graham Beck Brut Rosé 2009 – Best Vintage Rosé
Graham Beck Rosé NV – Best Non-Vintage Rosé
Graham Beck Rosé NV – Best Non-Vintage Rosé
Rickety Bridge Blanc de Blancs 2009 – Best Vintage Blanc de Blancs (Chardonnay)
Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut 2007 – Museum Class Winner
DOUBLE GOLD MEDAL WINNERS
Boschendal Grande Cuvée Brut 2009, Franschhoek – not yet released
Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut 2007 – Museum Class Winner
DOUBLE GOLD MEDAL WINNERS
Boschendal Grande Cuvée Brut 2009, Franschhoek – not yet released
Bon Courage Jacques Bruére Brut Reserve 2008, Robertson – R132
Colmant Brut Reserve NV, Franschhoek – R124
Graham Beck Brut Rosé 2009, Franschhoek – R205
Môreson Solitaire Blanc de Blancs 2005, Franschhoek
Rickety Bridge Blanc de Blancs 2009, Franschhoek – not yet released
Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut 2007, Stellenbosch – R150
GOLD MEDAL LAUREATES
GOLD MEDAL LAUREATES
Ayama Brut 2009, Paarl – R119
Bon Courage Jacques Bruére Blanc de Blancs 2007, Robertson
Bon Courage Jacques Bruére Blanc de Blancs 2008, Robertson – R130
Bon Courage Jacques Bruére Brut Rosé 2007, Robertson – R140
Cederberg Blanc de Blancs Brut 2008 – R185
Charles Fox Brut 2010, Elgin – R200
Constantia Uitsig Blanc de Blanc Brut 2009 – R245
De Grendel Brut 2011, Durbanville – R150
De Wetshof Brut 2008, Robertson – R192
Desiderius Pongrácz 2008 (JC Le Roux), Stellenbosch – R275
Domaine des Dieux Claudia Brut 2008, Hermanus – R130
Graham Beck Brut Blanc de Blancs 2009, Robertson – R205
Graham Beck Brut Rosé NV, Robertson – R90
Groot Constantia Cap Classique 2009 – R159
Kumkani Infiniti Brut 2007 (Thandi), Stellenbosch/Elgin – R79
Laborie Blanc de Blanc 2009, Paarl – R98
Laborie Brut 2010, Paarl – R80
Morgenhof Brut Reserve 2008, Stellenbosch – R137
Mount Babylon Pioneer Brut Reserve 2007, Hermanus – R235
Plaisir de Merle Grand Brut 2010, Simondium/Paarl – R180
Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut 2009, Stellenbosch – R90
Villiera Monro Brut 2008, Stellenbosch – R162
Weltevrede Philip Jonker Brut The Ring 2009, Bonnievale – R140
Windfall Mendola Blanc de Blanc 2007, Robertson – R160
