Let me start by stating if finances permitted, good bubbles would be my drink of choice and I would consume it as often as whatever study of the time suggests is healthy - with an extra glass on top, since those studies are for the average and I am no average.
"What is the occasion?" The inevitable question that always accompanies the opening of a random bottle of MCC. To that I answer, besides miraculously waking up to another day, the bubbles, the bubbles are worth celebrating, and here is why:
Champagne style or Methode Cap Classique wines are some of the more expensive wines to produce, quite challenging to turn into a commercial success and we simply don't drink enough of it because we wait for those "special" occasions. And with a year like last there aren't too many of those around.
Almost all the main grape varieties have at some stage been tried as bubbles with some doing better that others. The three classic grapes that stood the test of centuries however are Chardonnay, very difficult to grow Pinot noir, and Pinot meunier.
These grapes are used in combination to produce Brut and rose versions, but only Chardonnay for a Blanc de Blanc (white from white). Although Pinot noir and meunier are red and Brut is white, remember that the juice from red grapes are clear and leaving the red skins in the juice is what adds colour over time.
In bubbles Chardonnay is fresh, steely with green apples, lemon and lime, and adds elegance and finesse. Pinot noir brings red fruit flavours like strawberry, raspberry and cherries with body and structure.
Lesser-known Pinot meunier adds red fruit with minerality and floral notes, but doesn't like to age for too long. To better understand the time and cost involved, let's take the journey of one of my favourites.
Back in 2012, lower-alcohol higher-acid still wine was made from Pinot noir and Chardonnay and left on the lees for eight months with a small portion of the latter barrel fermented to add some body and richness. Towards the end of that year the still wines were tasted, blended and bottled, yeast and grape sugar added and sealed with a crown cap similar to a beer cap.
A well-made strong bottle is critical since the second fermentation that now produces the bubbles take bottle pressure up to six bar - three times that of a car tyre. Now, as the years grind by, the yeast releases those baked bread and brioche flavours so adored and the bubbles become finer and velvety, eventually like mousse.
Come October 2019, a long seven years on, the lees is removed, the bottle topped up with base wine and sugar, and it is corked, caged, labelled and placed back into cellar until the release date, which brings us up to the present and voila! - the 2012 Jacques Bruere Brut, an absolute bargain compared to premium still wines of the same age.
So please, go out and celebrate MCC. The world will be a poorer place without this labour of love.
Conrad de Wet sells wine for a living, which came about as a very convenient consequence of him constantly tasting his way towards the next great wine discovery and then thinking and talking about it until no mystery regarding its greatness remains. He opens a bottle of wine with the same enthusiasm as pre-schoolers do their birthday presents. Conrad de Wet, 082 683 4193, dewet.wine@gmail.com, instagram: winebynature.
