As I drove into Cape Town on the N2 for a new releases tasting on Monday this week, I was sorely tempted to use my cell phone (illegally) and call in 'stuck in traffic', take the off-ramp into Khayelitsha, and watch the Portuguese-North Korea game at the fan park. But, I stuck to my route and was rewarded with an interesting wine afternoon.

Kick-off was scheduled, ironically, for the exact moment we were to pour our first wine: a glass of Simonsig's Kaapse Vonkel Brut. A 750ml bottle and a magnum of the 2005 vintage of this wine took 1st and 2nd place respectively at the 2009 WINE Magazine Amorim Cork Cap Classique Challenge. Incidentally, not only was this bubbly the first bottle fermented sparkler in South Africa, it was the first to use all three Champagne varieties when pinot meunier became available in 1997.

The wine we tasted, the 2008, is dominated by pinot noir (49%) and chardonnay (45%), and has a dash of pinot meunier (6%). A portion of the chardonnay making up the base wine was fermented in old French barrels, winemaker Johan Malan intending this to add palate complexity and breadth.

Visually, the wine was very appealing with a delicate brushed gold hue and tiny, racy bubbles. However, on the nose and the palate, we found more Granny Smith aromas, flavours and acidity (from the chardonnay) than autolysis (from lees aging) and weight (from the red grape components), characters Tim James, Ingrid Motteux and I were disappointed not to come across, and as a result awarded it 15.5. Angela Lloyd attempted to talk us up to at least 16 points saying that, while it did lack brioche complexity, its component parts were well composed and well knit, and that this augured well for future development in bottle. Given Johan's experience and track record, we found ourselves nodding in agreement.

At a very friendly R85 at most retailers around the country, there's no excuse not to add a few bottles to your trolley. Also, as most cap classique producers do several different bottlings at different times of the year depending on demand, and degorge only just before bottling, you may find that the case you buy just before New Year has considerable more yeasty autolytic character than that with which we toasted the 'Vuvuzela World Cup'.

Also on the table was the 2007 Tiara, Simonsig's flagship red blend of cabernet sauvignon (67%), merlot (29%), cabernet franc (2%) and petit verdot (2%), which spent some 19 months in French oak. This exuded ripe berries, scrub and lavender on the nose and had a generous juicy palate that was kept in check by a lively acidity and a rather stern structure. We thought it classically styled, well crafted and probably a little 'safe'. Except for the tannins, there was elegance, and considerable persistence. This is a wine that needs several years - possibly three or four - before the oak settles and it reveals its true colours. With the exception of Tim James at 17, our group score was 16. I raised this to 16.5 having enjoyed a glass later with dinner. At R150, this is not an inexpensive wine, but one that won't disappoint. The 2006 vintage, which we didn't taste, has just been released in 1.5 litre magnum at R320. Perhaps the happy Portuguese team - which won its game 7-0 as I learnt driving home - will celebrate with a bottle or two?