Top image: Joaquim Sá, CEO of Amorim Cork with Danielle Coetsee, Boschendal’s Cap Classique winemaker at the 20th Amorim Cap Classique Challenge.
Boschendal Estate cemented its reputation as one of the leading producers of Cap Classique wines by this year winning one of the five Trophies as well as a Gold medal awarded at the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge, the pre-eminent competition honouring excellence in South Africa’s premium category of bottle-fermented sparkling wines. At this year’s awards ceremony held at Tintswalo Atlantic, Boschendal took the Trophy for Best Museum Class Cap Classique with the acclaimed Boschendal Jean le Long Prestige Cuvée Cap Classique 2009.
This year’s Gold Medal for Boschendal went to the estate’s Boschendal Brut Cap Classique (non-vintage).
The Museum Class is for wines of eight years and older. This is the second time in three years Boschendal has won this Trophy at the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge. In 2019 the Boschendal Jean le Long Prestige Cuvée Cap Classique from the 2008 vintage not only ensured Boschendal the Trophy for Best Museum Class wine, but also the award for that year’s Best Overall Producer.
According to Danielle Coetsee, Boschendal winemaker responsible for Cap Classique, a Trophy and a Gold medal at the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge is the pinnacle of recognition for any winemaker involved with Cap Classique.
“This competition has for 20 years garnered a reputation for being the ultimate judging platform for Cap Classique wines,” says Coetsee. “The focus is on this wine style exclusively and the judges are specialists in judging Cap Classique, which due to its nuances and technical approach can be very challenging. To thus again receive one of the five Trophies, plus a Gold medal at the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge, is fantastic recognition – for the Boschendal teams in the cellar and vineyards, as well as for the Boschendal brand which has established provenance and legacy in its Cap Classic ethos.”
The Amorim Trophy winning-wine, Jean le Long Prestige Cuvée Cap Classique 2009, has become one of the most awarded Cap Classiques in recent years. Earlier this year the same wine one a Gold medal at the Decanter International Wine Awards, accruing a stunning score of 96pts. It also took Gold at this year’s Old Mutual Trophy Wine Show.
Shirley van Wyk, Boschendal Marketing Manager, says these awards highlight Boschendal’s Cap Classique pedigree in a year in which this category celebrates its 50th anniversary.
“Boschendal was the second winery to venture into Cap Classique production, making its first sparkling wine 40 years ago this year. To thus receive this recognition in our 40th anniversary of Cap Classique production emphasises the profound role this category of sparkling wine plays within the Boschendal brand,” she says.
“The maiden Boschendal Brut of 1981 was made by the legendary Achim van Arnim in a rudimentary winery from, as he remembers, any grapes he could get his hands on. The quality of those early wines and the way their effervescent class elevated the Boschendal brand of premium wines, led to a focus on Cap Classique where we today have five different styles of bottle-fermented wines in our offering.”
Coetsee says that being responsible for making the icon Jean le Long is a privilege as her mandate is to simply make one of the world’s great sparkling wines.
“My brief is to leave no stone unturned in creating a Cap Classique that honours the legacy of Boschendal as well as one that can compare with any bottle-fermented sparkling wine in the world,” she says.
“Jean le Long is thus made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes sourced from high-altitude sites capable of providing fruit from which a base-wine of riveting acidity and layered complexity is made. The parcels of base-wine go through various selection processes before bottled for secondary fermentation, spending ten years on the lees before disgorging. Another year on cork in the bottle allows further evolution both in terms of texture and flavour.”
As the South African wine calendar heads into home-stretch with a number of wine competitions ahead, Boschendal could not be finished with its Cap Classique silverware yet.
“It has just been a magnificent year for Boschendal Cap Classique in our 40th anniversary of crafting this magical wine,” says Van Wyk. “Anymore awards will just be a bonus, as I think we have proven ourselves as a leader of this exceptional category of South African wines.”
