Recent releases: Three bubblies
28 November 2007

Riebeek Cellars
• Kasteelberg Méthode Cap Classique Brut 2004 R82 (f) 15

Constantia Uitsig
Méthode Cap Classique NV R325 (f) 16.5

Graham Beck
• The Bliss Méthode Cap Classique Demi-Sec NV R85 15

The festive season threatens; what better way to survive it than with a few bottles of bubbles? Local demand for sparkling wines made in the Cap Classique method (ie the same way as Champagne) remains insatiable, encouraging more players to enter the field; one downside is that many wines, including the Constantia Uitsig and Graham Beck reviewed here, are released far too young.

Newcomer to the Cap Classique category this year is Riebeek Cellars, one of the first two former co-operatives producing this wine style. Riebeek Cellars' Kasteelberg is also the first MCC out of the Swartland, not an area that would immediately come to mind as suitable for bubbly, given its reputation for more warm-hearted wines, but Zakkie Bester and his team have produced a worthy first effort. Blended from 60% pinot blanc and 40% pinot noir, both varieties went through their first fermentation on natural yeasts. Six months on the lees prior to bottling was followed by a further two year rest before disgorging. The red grape's input is immediately evident in the reddish/gold hue, perhaps due also to some bottle development, but there is little sense of aging in the taste. Here we find biscuit, bruised apple and toast with a suggestion of yeast, all recognisable MCC characteristics, even if they lack intensity. Despite some richness noted by CvZ, the bubble remains quite assertive, the finish solidly brut, revealing just a hint of coarseness. Very ready for festive celebrations; serve very well chilled.

Constantia Uitsig's maiden MCC makes its appearance thanks to André Rousseau's decision to cull the barrel-fermented Chardonnay, channelling the grapes since 2005 into this blanc de blanc bubbly. We regularly comment favourably on the Uitsig range, so it is no surprise to find Rousseau has made a fine (if very expensive) MCC. In this he has also benefited from a spell with the Krone family at Twee Jonge Gezellen in 1990 and from the guiding hand of another bubbly authority, John Loubser at Steenberg, where the Constantia Uitsig wines are made.

In this very young wine, we still pick up oak, used to ferment half the wine, and a suggestion of chardonnay floral fruit; these features worry IM more than the rest of us who regard them as a function of youth rather than faults. In all other ways the wine shows its class: a beautiful ripe wheaten colour, bright, tiny streaming bead cushioned by creamy waves tapering to a clean, bone dry finish. It has everything in place to gain with age, when it will likely better reflect its `Champagne' price.

The Graham Beck The Bliss Demi-Sec NV is possibly the most interesting and unusual wine of this trio due to its sweeter style. I describe it as rich rather than sweet, if lacking those yeasty/brioche notes deriving from time on the lees prior to disgorgement; IM finds it has length, but both TJ and CvZ see it as simple, short and sweet. It's an equal blend of 2006 chardonnay and pinot noir. The grapes are treated in exactly the same way as for the Graham Beck Brut NV, apart from the chardonnay being harvested with a higher acid - around 10-12 g/l. After blending the base wines, bottling took place in May 2006 and the liqueur de triage (bubble inducing ingredients) added; thereafter the wine rested on the lees for 15 months before degorgement. The dosage added to sweeten the wine was made from the blended demi-sec base wines to which was added 1,25% sugar; this raised the sugar level in the final wine to 35 g/l.

As it is a style rarely made and because Pieter Ferreira is one of the Cape's most serious bubbly makers, I turned to Tom Stevenson in England, who is an acknowledged authority on Champagne, for some background and his views on demi-sec sparkling wine. These are his comments:

Most demi-sec Champagne today hover around 35-40g/l and even in Champagne such levels of sugar inhibit the relatively subtle effects of autolysis. Although demi-sec Champagne do not display autolytic character, a well-cellared demi-sec (or Sec) from Pol Roger, Veuve Clicquot and Roederer will develop a fabulous depth of biscuity post-disgorgement aromas. The more sugar, the longer the post-disgorgement aromas take to develop. Even when released these Champagnes should have much more than the average 3-6 months ageing between disgorgement and shipping.

Over the last 10 years or so, a number of Champagne producers have been trying to upgrade the quality and image of demi-sec, by repositioning it as a Champagne for the table, rather than a wedding Champagne for the sweet-toothed. There are many instances when a good demi-sec is a much better partner for certain game dishes than the conventional choice of a full-bodied red, especially when those game dishes contain fresh or dried fruit or preserve ingredients, the sugar content of which will leave a red wine overly dry and ungenerous.

Outside of Champagne, I would expect a serious producer such as Graham Beck to be looking at the gastronomic angle, and to be aware that the sweeter styled sparkling wines require disproportionately longer time between disgorgement and distribution. I would not expect any autolytic character, but I would expect something more than simple fruitiness. I would recommend consumers to cellar the wine (if they have good storage) and to observe its development over two or three years, not only of the aroma-flavour profile, but also the mousse, which I would expect to soften.

- AL

• Riebeek Cellars website

• Uitsig website

Scoring

Grape’s interpretation of the 20-point rating scale

0-10: Faulty or just unpleasant

10.5-11.5: Dull, uninteresting but sound

12-13.5: Pleasant enough, decent but basically simple quaffer

14-15.5: Good and enjoyable, but no real excitement

16-16.5 Very good wine, offering something special

17-17.5 Fine and beautiful world-class wine, among the best in SA

18-20  Truly excellent, some even among the world’s finest

!!! indicates especially good value

Prices
Prices given are approximate retail in South Africa, except where indicated as ex-farm by (f)

Tasters for these wines

TJ – Tim James
AL – Angela Lloyd
CvZ - Cathy van Zyl

IM – Regular guest taster Ingrid Motteux, Cape-based wine consultant; taster for the Platter Guide

For more information regarding the tasting procedures, tasters, etc, see the Recent releases contents page

We would welcome adding your opinions of these wines