Judging 20 Blanc de Blancs, 18 Rosés, 31 Blends (9 non-vintage) and 6 Museum (older than 2007) MCCs at L’Avenir today confirms that SA bubbly continues to make huge improvements in quality. My money is on an older blend winning the victor’s laurels, but if museum exhibits could win, the oldest entry would walk it by unanimous consensus from the five judges: two winemakers, one sommelier and two journos chaired (with the lightest of touches) by Allan Mullins. The venue may have looked like the day after the wedding, but the bubbles soon had us in a festive frame of mind.

The wines were sorted in each flight by age and it seemed to me they got better and better as the tasting proceeded, which is good news for those lucky fish with a cellar. My consumer tip of the week is to buy a selection of current release non-vintage MCCs and forget about them for five years. After all, the ability to delay gratification is one of the few positive things to be said for growing older.