Laborie Named Overall Winner of Amorim Cap Classique Challenge in a Year of Record Entries
In a year that saw a record number of entries
for the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge, KWV Laborie walked away
with the top award, winning the trophy for Best Producer Overall
with the Laborie Blanc de Blancs 2017. Laborie, which also took
the competition trophy for Best Blanc de Blancs, was joined on
the winners' rostrum by trophy winners Domaine des Dieux Claudia
2017 (Best Brut), Louisvale MCC Rosé NV (Best Rosé), Newstead
Blanc de Blanc 2016 (Best Extended Aged Cap Classique for
vintages from 2016 and older) and Darling Cellars Nectar 2020
(Best Nectar).
Sponsored by Amorim Cork, the world's largest
producer of cork wine closures and based in Portugal, the Cap
Classique Challenge has been held annually since 2002 and is
South Africa's largest competition awarding and recognising Cap
Classique wines. The event is held in co-operation with the Cap
Classique Producers Association, the official industry body for
this wine style made to the traditional method of secondary
bottle-fermentation pioneered in South Africa in 1971 by the
late Frans Malan of Simonsig.
Joaquim Sá, MD of Amorim Cork in
South Africa, who was also responsible for organising the first
Cap Classique Challenge 22 years ago, says that this year's
record number of competition entries - 157 wines - underscores
the vibrancy of the Cap Classique category and the increasing
number of producers active in this premium sector of South
African wine.
"True to the very nature of the sparkling wine it
represents, the Cap Classique Challenge is a celebration as much
as it is a platform to award the country's top producers making
Cap Classique," he says. "Over the past decade especially, Cap
Classique has entrenched itself as one of the Cape's leading
wine offerings, not only in the eyes of critics and judges
affirming the quality and diversity in styles, but also among
consumers. The very name 'Cap Classique' has become a brand in
itself, proudly South African and a fashionable representation
of the ebullient lifestyle associated with the pop of a cork and
the sparkling splash of wine into a glass.
"As the world's
leading supplier of corks for use in the sparkling wine sector
world-wide, Amorim's association with Cap Classique is a long
and proud one where we work in tandem with the Cap Classique
Association in creating an awareness of the category as well as
in improving the overall quality of this sector. In this aspect,
I consider the Cap Classique Association as having played a
profound role in inspiring producers to make better wines and to
elevate the awareness of the ever-increasing number of great Cap
Classiques made in South Africa."
Heidi Duminy, Cape Wine Master
who convened the panel of judges, says the overall quality and
standard was extremely high his year. "We have much to celebrate
in the Cap Classique category on the whole as more producers are
reaping the reward of patience with an obvious elevation in
complexity with time on the lees balanced by frisky fruit
attitude and intricate fine bubbles.
"Our enduring impression on
this year's entries was very positive, with excitement about the
continued development of a true South African identity in the
various styles and expressions of Cap Classique. The bar has
been raised."
Besides the five trophies, gold medals for
exceptional Cap Classiques were presented to the following
producers in the different categories:
Double Gold Blanc de
Blancs
Simonsig Cuvée Royale 2018
Graham Beck Blanc de Blancs
2018
Newstead Blanc de Blancs 2017
L'Ormarins Blanc de Blancs
2018
Double Gold Brut
Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut 2019
Pongracz
Desiderius 2015
Graham Beck Cuvée Clive 2018
Double Gold
Extended Ageing
Lourensford Cuvée 124 2011
Weltevrede Philip
Jonker The Ring 2013
During this year's Cap Classique Challenge
Michael Fridjhon, South Africa's leading wine critic and
personality, was awarded the Frans Malan Legacy Trophy. Named
after the pioneer of Cap Classique, the trophy is presented to
South Africans from the wine industry who have made a profound
contribution to the category.
Besides the promoting of South
African wine - including Cap Classique - in general, Fridjhon
was the convener of a group of like-minded Cap Classique
producers who in 1992 met in Swaziland to discuss the future or
the category, the event culminating in the establishing of the
Cap Classique Producers Association.
To view the complete list of winners please
CLICK HERE.