Laborie will launch its exclusive, small batch bubbly at this year’s Franschoek Cap Classique & Champagne Festival on 5 & 6 December.
The Jean Taillefert Prestige Cuvée Pinot Noir MCC is a connoisseur’s must-have for this festive season’s celebrations.
At this year’s festival, visitors will be given the opportunity to taste this exquisite MCC, which will be perfectly paired with the sweeter taste of the raspberry macaroon.
According to Kobus van der Merwe, Winemaker for Laborie, this new Blanc de Noir addition to Laborie’s MCC range, offers a harmony of flavours and represents perfection in the glass.
“Produced in very limited quantities, this 100% Pinot Noir straw coloured MCC shows creamy, enticing complexity, with powerful upfront floral and berry aromas followed by notes of brioche and nougat,” he says. “On the palate, this exceptional MCC exudes seductive freshness, with lingering mineral tones.”
van der Merwe explains that during the winemaking process the grapes were hand-harvested in small bins, in the cool of the morning and hand-sorted at the cellar so that only the finest bunches were selected, gentle whole bunch pressing produced only the top cuvée.
Every bottle of the Laborie Jean Taillefert Méthode Cap Classique is individually numbered and includes the specific date of disgorgement. “We only release the wine six months after this event, when it is at its freshest and most elegant. It is best enjoyed within 36 months of this date.”
There is a lot of nostalgia around the Taillefert name. Isaac Taillefert, who was born in 1676 at Chateau-Thierry in Brie, in the Champagne region of France, came to the Cape in the seventeenth century and the farm was granted to Isaac in 1691, which he placed in his son Jean’s name.
The Tailleferts then named the farm after the district of La Bri in France from which they originated, but with regular use and colloquialism, the name Laborie finally emerged and stayed. KWV bought the farm in 1972 and set about turning it into a world-class estate.
According to van der Merwe, “With their knowledge of French viticulture techniques, the Taillefert family laid a solid foundation of vineyards and outstanding wine production that is still evident today, three hundred years later, in Laborie’s wines of distinction and exquisite range of Jean Taillefert MCCs.”
Laborie has made sparkling wine following the traditional method for the past 24 years. “During this time, the evolution in our wine style has been driven by respect for soil type, origin and grape varietals; optimum grape ripeness; the vinification of separate parcels; the judicious use of wood; and, careful malolactic fermentation and lees contact which dramatically increases the fullness of flavour,” he explains. “All of these factors and detail we’re constantly working on have but one purpose; to produce an MCC that demonstrates all the qualities of the best bottle fermented sparkling wines from around the world.”
Laborie produces some of the best Méthode Cap Classique sparkling wines, evident in the number of recent award wins. Laborie Méthode Cap Classique 2010 was named Best Brut at the 2015 Amorim Cap Classique Challenge and garnered Gold for the 2011 MCC. Laborie also scored Double Gold at the 2015 Veritas awards for the Laborie Blanc de Blanc MCC 2010.
Selling for R450 (cellar door price) this small batch MCC is available directly from Laborie at www.laboriewines.co.za
Or phone 021 – 807 3095 or email [email protected]
Purchasing this special MCC is a good reason to visit the historic wine estate. With a tranquil guesthouse, two restaurants and a craft beer bar there is something for the whole family to indulge in.
