The two faces of MCC

Monday saw the celebration of the 25th birthday of Pongracz and the party at the CAAM Gallery in De Waterkant showed the fizzy, bubbly, almost ecstatic face of MCC. The event was curated by Blomboi and the beautiful people turned out in their droves. There was Koos Kardashian in stretch leggings showing off his Saartjie Baartmans. One clubber must have leant against a freshly painted wall in a niteclub at the docks as the decor attached to his back.

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Quite a change to the miserable photo of the judges at the Amorim MCC Challenge tweeted from a rainy Nederburg a couple of months ago. So sad, with Cape Town based judges furious that they had to drive to Paarl to fit in with logistics. Talk about colossal carbon footprints. But then not too many of the Amorim judges were at the Pongracz jol, which confirms the disconnect between the people who judge fizz and those who drink it.

The canapes served by what I misheard as the Food Bitch (turned out to be bench as in wench) were an eyeopener: carrots in lipstick and liver wrapped in chocolate and presented in a box of cat litter.

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These are the kind of snax to serve at the AGM of SBIG, except that Sauvignon producers lack the boldness of bubbly makers. The boldest and most beautiful of whom is Elunda Bubbly Basson, the elegant face of the brand, who makes wines with what William Burrows called “a space-eye view”, capturing time in a bottle. She is an astronaut of aspiration.

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The 2003 Desiderius flagship is a case in point. The rich flavours hark back to the birth of the brand a quarter of a century ago yet the fresh bubbles leap out boldly into the future. What a totally amazing wine – not a Champgagne (far too fruity for that) – but perhaps a pioneer of a truly South African sparkling wine. A true Kaapse Vonkel which is what the category should have been called instead of the faux French Methode Cap Classique.

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Blomboi was not wrong in suggesting we celebrate 25 ears bold. But is anyone in the Cap Classique Association listening?