A show of love for devotees of bubbly
All the best wines under one roof
The question asked by hedonists is “what would the world be without bubbly?” and of course, the answer will always be “a pretty dull one”.
Where there is bubbly there is euphoria and a spirit of camaraderie – which is what happened at the sparkling wine show, ShowLove Cap Classique Affair, held at the Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel last Saturday and Sunday.
Credit to the organiser, Tebello “Tibz” Motsoane, for rolling out a grandiose show with the crème de la crème of South African sparkling wine cellars, such as Graham Beck, Backsberg, Niel Joubert, Villiera, Simonsig, Haute Cabriere, Krone and Pongrácz.
There was a new bubbly on the house – thanks to Motsoane himself who exhibited his new six-month-old sparkling wine, Atelier Methode Cap Classique, consisting of a brut rosé and brut, crafted at Wildekrans winery in the Cape.
These are two wines with a lush, rounded palate which tantalises with an explosion of bubbles.
And the French threw in Boulevard Nectar Rosé Brut for a bit of their peculiar flair, introducing to the South African market a wine targeted at consumers with a penchant for opulently fruity rosés.
Packaged in a glamour black bottle, the bubbly is a deep rosé pink that is livened by fine bubbles with a touch of sweetness.
It is imported from the Languedoc area in the south of France, and handcrafted from pinot noir, chardonnay and pinor meunier.
The first sip reveals a palate brimming with the ripeness of raspberry fruit, all specked by a fine mousse finish.
It will strike a chord with bubbly lovers who like their nectar a tad off-dry.
In the line-up, the House of Krone swaggered in the glory of their popular Krone Night Nectar Demi-Sec, a pinot noir dominated Methode Cap Classique, which is made in the retro style of the first famous sparkling wines of France of a century ago.
With residual sugar tipping the scales at 46g/l, amounting to just over eight teaspoons of sugar, the wine is a loaded pollen geared for sweet-toothed tipplers.
Happily, Krone does produce other expressions which are a lot drier than their demi-sec nectar, including Krone Borealis Brut.
For the religious, Backsberg serves kosher wines to meet the requirements of tipplers from that quarter.
At its stall, the Paarl winery poured Kosher Brut, which is okayed by a rabbi who visits the cellar to inspect the wine and give it his blessings, and another brut available to the general public.