I recently came across a British writer’s article on New World sparkling wines, particularly those made in the traditional method. He wrote extensively and enthusiastically about USA, Australian, New Zealand and Latin American sparkling wines.

South Africa was given a brief mention, but the South African section was more notable for what it did not say than what it did say. Included was the paragraph: “Production is very small scale with fewer than two-dozen producers”.I was surprised that a British wine buff knew so little about South African Cap Classique – surely a dynamic and exciting sector world-wide. I also felt my patriotic feathers slightly ruffled, and decided to do some digging around for more information in order to put the record straight. I contacted the author and he said he would really welcome additional details; he said that he had tried doing further research on South African Cap Classique himself, but had found information on South African Méthode Cap Classique (MCC) wines hard to come by.

Pieter ‘Bubbles’ Ferreira, chairperson of the Cap Classique Association (CCA), proved to be most helpful in this regard, and provided me with the following information:

Cap Classique was established in 1992, well before the embargo was placed on Méthode Champenoise in 1995. At that stage, the CCA came into existence, having 14 members. The CCA now has 82 members in their producers’ association. This is by no means inclusive, and according to the Platter Wine Guide, approximately 100 South African wineries make Cap Classique. The CCA raison d’être is the promotion of South Africa’s premium MCC wines, as well as the promotion of the common interests of the producers of MCC wines.