🍷 Cap Classique

Cap Classique is the South African name for sparkling wine made by bottle fermentation. In the regulations under the Liquor Products Act (Act 60 of 1989) the class is called Méthode Cap Classique sparkling wine, or MCC sparkling wine.

According to the regulations, the second fermentation takes place only in the bottle in which the wine is sold. The wine stays in continuous contact with the lees for at least nine months for grapes of the 2022 harvest and earlier, and at least twelve months from the start of the second fermentation for the 2023 harvest and later. The lees are removed by disgorgement, and the carbon dioxide must come solely from the second fermentation.

From the 2023 harvest the grapes must be whole-bunch pressed, and the wine may be sold only if it has been certified. The regulations allow a departure from the bottle-fermentation and lees rules for bottles larger than 1.5 litres or smaller than 750 ml, by permission of the administering officer.

A separate class, Méthode Cap Classique with Extended Lees Aging, is made only from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, from whole-bunch pressed grapes, with at least thirty-six months on the lees, and is also sold only if certified. The regulations list no variety restriction for ordinary MCC.