Blanc de Blancs

Seared Tuna with Wasabi Sauce.

In their pursuit of the perfect bubble, Graham Beck consistently raises the bar in terms of quality and distinction and has firmly established themselves as one of the world’s leading sparkling wine brands, devoted to quality and consistency. Since the launch of their maiden Méthode Cap Classique in 1991 these sought after, much lauded sparkling wines have not only been the celebratory toasts of international icons such as Mandela and Obama, but also garnered some of the industry’s most prestigious global accolades. Situated in the breathtaking Robertson Wine Valley (located a mere 140km from Cape Town in South Africa’s spectacular Western Cape Winelands), Graham Beck focuses on minimal intervention, allowing the authentic essence of the fruit and terroir to shine through. The unique climate of the region, combined with the rich limestone soils, produce wines which have become popular across the globe for their authenticity, versatility and elegance. At their state-of-the-art Cap Classique cellar the team crafts a range of internationally acclaimed Méthode Champenoise style wines, widely regarded as benchmarks in the industry.

The fruit for this wine was hand selected and hand harvested from our very specific Chardonnay clonal block on our Robertson Estate. The soils in which these vineyards grow have a rich natural limestone content. These clones have different flavour profiles contributing to the unique complexity and minerality in the base wines. Yield was between 8-10 ton/ha. The Chardonnay was hand-picked at 19.0 to 20.0 Brix during the third week of January. Grapes were picked into lug boxes and then transferred to fruit bins for transport to the cellar, where the whole bunches were tipped into the presses and underwent a gentle and slow pressing cycle to extract the juice as softly as possible.

Only 7% new barrels are added each year to the balance of older barrels to ensure harmony of the wood integration during fermentation. After fermentation, the wine was aged in barrels for 5 months and then selectively blended with other parcels of the best Chardonnay that were fermented in stainless steel. The final blended base wine was then bottled for the second fermentation with yeast contact of at least 48 months before degorgement.

Whole bunch pressing ensures fractional recovery. Only the cuvée juice (premium quality juice) was selected for fermentation. Of the cuvée, 50% was fermented in specific Piece Champenoise 205L barrels to ensure richness and extra dimension of flavour and a creamy texture.