Brut

Shrimp and shellfish, smoked salmon, caviar, fried calamari, and oysters.

In 2011 vineyard selection began with a process of region identification according to the house style for Le Lude Cap Classique. The regions were: Bonnievale, Robertson, Franschhoek and Elgin. Plettenberg Bay was a per chance discovery after a meeting with the farm owner. After identifying regions we focused on the farms in these specific regions that were currently supplying premium quality grapes for Cap Classique production. Specific vineyards on these farms were often divided into two mini sites or pickings. The wide variety of clones, sites, soil types, slopes and climatic conditions give a good variety with which to blend. We also focus on using the same clone from various sites to have a richer more complex style of the same clone.

The juice is settled using enzymes and is then racked. The clean juice goes through a cool fermentation. A small fraction is fermented in 2nd – 4th ll barrels and the large majority is fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. No lees contact is given post fermentation. Malolactic fermentation is avoided. Blending takes place from only the cuvee fractions, barrel fermented portions and various reserve wines that have been stored in 300 liter new and 2nd fill oak barrels. The reserve wine is stored in specially selected pièce champenoise barrels for 2 years and then bottled in magnums. This Cap Classique spends a minimum of 36 months on the lees.

Le Lude a wine farm in the picturesque Franschhoek Valley of South Africa’s Western Cape follows an ethos committed to its founding family and the crafting of naturally bottle-fermented sparkling wines known as Cap Classique. Here the Barrow family have made their home writing a new chapter in a premier wine region where French Huguenots fleeing persecution for their religious beliefs landed in the Cape and began making wines in Franschhoek as far back as 1693. Today Le Lude builds on this important vinous tradition by specialising in Cap Classique ensuring that grapes expressing site and terroir are coaxed into a premium product of unrivalled excellence. Innovation in the cellar and the restless un-comprising pursuit of perfection in the bottle have made Le Lude one of the world’s most exciting new producers of Cap Classique a wine becoming internationally renowned for finesse elegance and refinement. The pioneering approach of Le Lude is underscored by it being the first cellar to produce an Agrafe® (Tirage Liège) Cap Classique paving the way for a sector of the South African wine industry on the road to greatness.