In the year marking 50 years of bottling and labelling its own wine, three of Simonsig Estate’s wines achieved Double Platinum status in this year’s prestigious SA Top 100 Competition, with one adjudged Best in Class.

There’s nothing quite like a glass of chilled Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rosé to quench your thirst on a hot summer’s day, except a Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rosé cocktail of course!

“We’ve come a long way over the years” declares Johan Malan, cellar master of Simonsig, the Stellenbosch cellar which pioneered Kaapse Vonkel, the first bottle-fermented sparkling wine in South Africa in 1971. 

Top image: The Simonsig Winemaking Team: From left Hannes Meyer, Debbie Thompson, Johan Malan and Charl Schoeman.

Heading into the final months of 2017, Simonsig Estate is ending the wine calendar as the undisputed champion of Méthode Cap Classique, the bottle-fermented sparkling wine category it pioneered in 1971.

Simonsig Wine Estate from Stellenbosch saw two wines made from varieties on which the estate’s reputation was founded each win Gold at this year’s Mundus Vini Wine Competition held in Germany. Gold medals went to Simonsig’s Chenin Blanc 2017 and Redhill Pinotage 2015, both cultivars that have anchored the estate’s reputation for excellence over the years.

Besides being recognised as the pioneer of Méthode Cap Classique, Simonsig Estate in Stellenbosch has its roots firmly grounded in Chenin Blanc. In fact, the maiden Kaapse Vonkel Cap Classique released in 1971 was made from Chenin.

A single-vineyard Syrah from the Cape‘s 2010 vintage made on Simonsig Estate won one of the few Gold medals awarded at this year’s Syrah du Monde competition in France.

Simonsig Estate’s two Gold Medals won at this year’s Concours Mondial de Bruxelles is a tribute to the well-known Stellenbosch wine farm’s ability to produce a diverse range of terroir-expressive wines.

Sparkling wine and oysters have traditionally been seen as a match made in heaven, but this combination has reached even greater heights at the new Kaapse Vonkel Cap Classique and Oyster Bar at De Warenmarkt in Stellenbosch.

With Cap Classique being the most ideal wine to enjoy at that special meal known as brunch, the wine farm where the first Cap Classique was made will be offering a brunch with a difference on Saturdays.