Méthode Cap Classique

The grapes were harvested early in the morning by hand to keep the fruit cool. They were loaded straight into the press for a gentle whole-bunch press cycle. Thus, ensuring premium quality juice is on hand for the base wine. The juice was clarified using the cold settling technique and allowed to settle for 48 hours. The clean juice was racked to the fermentation tank where it completed its alcoholic (primary) fermentation at 14 °C. After fermentation, we prepared the tank for bottling, ensuring that the wine was cold-stable, protein stable and filtered. The tank’s Residual Sugar was adjusted to make sure that there is enough sugar for the yeast cells for the second fermentation (source of carbonation). We grow a yeast culture over a few days to add to the tank 30 minutes prior to starting bottling. The yeast is kept in suspension for the entire bottling to ensure that each bottle receives a dose of the all-important yeast cells. This is when the magic happens in the bottle, since the MCC bottle is now closed with a crown seal, the second fermentation’s CO2 that is produced during the ferment is unable to escape and thus ends up becoming dissolved into solution. In other words, this is where the MCC gets its lovely bubbles from.

Despite the drought, the dry, warm weather resulted in healthy grapes and small berries with good intensity. Warm days and below average cool nights during the ripening stage gave the colour and flavour development a positive boost.

The MCC was allowed to age under crown cap for 63 months, after which the wine was disgorged, and a small amount of Dosage was added.