At lunch with Duncan Spence, owner of Rickety Bridge in Franschhoek, yesterday, Duncan commented that the first vintage of Rickety Bridge bubbly made by Wynand Grobler “was better than any [French] Champagne I’ve tasted.” And Duncan, with homes in the Caribbean, Cape Town, the USA, the UK and Sark has tasted a few. Could quality be the explanation for booming bubbly sales to Angola? 4.5 million litres exported last year – most of it bottled – down from 5.6 million the year before.

Who is supplying it? Could it be their closest winery on the Orange River which was responsible for 40% of the best value MCCs tasted blind for the Best Value Guide? No wonder Spar relies on the Groot Gariep for much of their own label wine.

De Wet Cellar Muscat de Frontignan Pettilant Fronte NV 14.30 R24.00
Swartland Winery Contours Collection Moscato 2012 14.30 R29.00
Orange River Cellars Sparkling Rosé 2013 14.80 R45.00
Orange River Cellars Brut Sparkling Wine 2013 14.80 R45.00
Van Loveren Family Cellar Papillon Brut Sparkling Wine 2013 14.70 R38.92

This recasting of scores into quality values expressed in Rands makes consummate sense. Far more useful to hear that the De Wet bubbly from the Breedekloof trades at a 55% discount to its quality value of R43 (against a shelf price of R24) than it scores 14.3 out of 20.