“Pardon me sir, are you done with that?” I asked the guy sitting across the table from me at a wedding reception, which I recently attended in Johannesburg. He was hoarding the bottle of Verve Cliquot, which had been passed around and ended up staying firmly in his clutches. With only one bottle allocated to each table for toasting purposes during the run of speeches from the usual suspects, I was determined to get my lips on a few more drops. As I was trying to coax the bottle of good stuff away from the Cliquot squirrel, I was also trying to do the maths to estimate how much it must have cost the generous drinks patron for the Champagne and corkage, in addition to the open bar tab. I speculated that most of the guests would not remember, or fail to appreciate the few extravagant mouthfuls of bubbly, and I had to wonder if the indulgence of French Champagne is really worth it for large scale celebrations, such as weddings.
Can you afford Vintage Champagne and Vera Wang?
There are some things that a bride just cannot do without on her wedding day, vintage Champagne in large quantities is probably not one of them. Of course, if you are keeping up with the Oppenheimers and have a Rolls Royce parked in the garage, then by all means. Vintage Champagne is still the world’s number one party trick, and the obvious choice for intimate special occasions, such as romantic anniversary dinners for two, and of course to quench the hot honeymoon nights. But on a wedding budget with a few hundred drinkers to satiate, and many other expenses to consider, then may I offer you a hand in shelving the fantasy of your guests clinking flutes of Dom Perignon, while admiring your Vera Wang wedding gown, and go for something more economical.
No need for headaches on the wedding night
On the other hand, this is your wedding day and cause for celebration. Therefore, it is best to stay away from the cheap and cheerful sparkling wines that have been carbonated by means of cylinders pumping carbon dioxide into tanks of wine. These inexpensive spumantes have large bubbles, aggressive effervescence like fizzy cool drinks, and are usually distastefully sweet or nastily acidic. Probably not the way to cheers your blessed union.
Made just like Champagne
So to keep things in elegant moderation, I would suggest going for any number of excellent South African sparkling wines produced in the Methode Cap Classique (MCC). Methode Cap Classique is the South African term for “made just like Champagne” and can ooze characteristics of the real French deal. Quality can vary from cellar to cellar, but the amount of effort that it takes to produce a MCC sparkling wine is usually a guarantee in itself. A quality MCC sparkler is blended from premium grapes of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and to a lesser extent, Pinot Meunier varieties, as with Champagne, and can be zesty and crisp with baked bread, biscuit, creamy and nutty flavours. The tiny and continual bubbles appear weaved into the very essence of the cava, and are seamlessly one with the wine, and therefore should never give the impression of being wine plus gas, such as the cheaper carbonated bubblies described earlier.
Popular MCCs retailing for around R60 per bottle and well-rated by the Platters guide are Pongracz, Villeria Traditional Brut, Pierre Jourdan Brut, Graham Beck Brut, Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel and Krone Borealis from Twee Jonge Gezellen.
So when planning your wedding, sit down with the person taking care of the drinks tab and decide how much you are able to spend on sparkling wine, and how many bottles you’ll need. Probably budget on about I or 2 bottles of Methode Cap Classique wines per table.
It makes no sense to me to blow the budget on French champagne when there are so many good and affordable South African MCCs available to accompany your “I do’s”.
