Sparkling Cederberg Cap Classique does SA proud at World Champs

IMPRESSIVE! Winner of the only gold medal awarded to a South African bubbly at the 2019 Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships in London, the Cederberg Brut Blanc de Blancs 2014 was favoured above three silver medallists from Graham Beck of Robertson and another from Le Lude of Franschhoek. With less than two hectares of their mountain vineyards planted to Chardonnay for their sparkling wine, the Cederberg Private Cellar of the Nieuwoudt family is more famous for Cabernet, Shiraz, Sauvignon and Chenin than for Cap Classique, but the small volume is all that’s holding it back. The 2013 vintage of Cederberg’s MCC was a gold medallist at the World Champs in 2018 and Highly Recommended in Platter’s SA Wine Guide, the 2010 achieved Platter’s 5 Star rating and the 2008 was a gold medal laureate in the Cap Classique Challenge.

There were close to 1000 wines entered in the 2019 Championships, close to 20 of them from South Africa. Most awards went to Italy, France and England (in that order), with Champagne the most-awarded region (61 golds and 49 silvers). In total, 185 gold medals and 212 silvers were awarded to producers in 18 countries. The Best in Class, National Champions and World Champions will be announced at an awards dinner in November. The judges: England’s Tom Stevenson (panel chair and competition founder), Finland’s Essi Avellan MW and Australia’s Tony Jordan. Full results and more about the competition here.

 

CEDERBERG BRUT BLANC DE BLANCS 2014
WO Cederberg. Chardonnay grapes from 24-year-old vines (1.5ha); supplementary irrigation; whole-bunch pressing. Cap Classique: made according to the traditional method involving second fermentation in the bottle. Aged for 52 months on the lees (spent yeast). Riddled over two weeks.
Alc 12.3 | RS 5.7 | TA 6.5 | pH 3.4
Producer’s Tasting Notes: strings of dainty pearls in liquid gold; bouquet of baked brioche and apples with fresh lemon and grapefruit aromas; crisp, with integrated acidity; creamy complexity.
Cellaring Advice: drink within three years after release (by 2022).
R195 a bottle at the cellar.

 

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2 comments

  • Wilfried Goessens

    About Cap Classique. I agree with the comments of Mr Stevenson. I too often drink South African sparkling wines which disappoint me when compared to French sparkling – and not only Champagne but also Crémant de Bourgogne and sparkling Alsace.

  • While South Africa’s Cap Classique producers can and do make world-class sparkling wine, it is still a country that has far more potential than it is currently delivering. The wines that have [entered the World Championships but] not won medals show too much emphasis on oak and technique and processes, when they need to start at the ground upwards, balancing the vineyard to provide grapes that are better suited to sparkling wine than still wine. There were too many cuvées that were too ripe, too fruity or too winey or verging on winey or dominated by oak.

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