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MICHAEL FRIDJHON: Reason to celebrate SA’s superb sparkling wines
Festive season Cape Classique drinkers are now spoilt for choice, writes Michael Fridjhon
The French drink champagne pretty much right through the year. If they’re not knocking off port as an aperitif (France is still the largest export market for Douro fortified wines), they’re probably popping a bottle of fizz as their guests walk through the door. For South Africans, sparkling wine consumption used to be limited to Christmas, New Year and family celebrations – though over the past few years we have begun to treat bubbly as more than just a special occasion beverage. A concerted national effort has seen consumption of Cap Classique increase by an average of about 15% annually over the past five years to roughly 7-million bottles – about 10 times the volume of the equally buoyant French champagne sales in SA. There are very few tricks to good champagne-method sparkling wine. When Michel Bettane, probably France’s best known wine commentator, was interviewed after judging the Cap Classique class at 2016’s Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show, he said that producing the right bubb...
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