Last weekend it was time for our annual Méthode Cap Classique (MCC) wine shootout.  14 MCC wines, 9 very enthusiastic judges.

Last year we tasted a combination of white and pink MCC wines with a sparkling wine as well as a bottle of Moët thrown in for good measure.

The Laborie 2010 NV Brut won.  As it was named the best Brut at the 2015 Amorim Cap Classique Challenge we were very happy with that outcome.

Interestingly the Moët champagne at roughly 4 times the cost of the MCC wines did not do that well.

This year we decided to stick with white MCC wines between R85 and R150 so that we could compare apples with apples.

The MCC’s tasted were:

Steenberg NV
Bon Courage Jacques Bruere 2009
Boschendal NV
Graham Beck NV
Nitida The Matriarch 2014
Saronsberg 2012
Aurelia NV
Philip Jonker Entheos NV
Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel 2014
Pongracz NV
Twee Jonge Gezellen Krone Borealis 2015
Villiera Tradition NV
Laborie 2011
Darling Cellars 2014

We used a standard wine tasting score card of 20 points broken down into the following components  :

Appearance : 3 points
Aroma and Bouquet : 6 points
Taste : 6 points
Aftertaste : 3 points
Overall Impression : 2 points

We also had to guess which wine we were tasting.

The bottles were stashed in an icebox around the corner so that we could not see what was being poured.  The guys were kind enough to be our waiters for the evening.

We decided on 2 rounds of tasting, with the option to change our scores on the 2nd round.

It became clear very early on that guessing what we were tasting was not an easy task.  As more bubbles were poured and consumed guessing became bolder and louder. How could we not immediately recognise the Pongracz or Villiera that we drink copious amounts of?

The top 3 MCC wines were :

1. Nitida The Matriarch 2014                             17.9 out of 20 scored
2. Twee Jonge Gezellen Krone Borealis 2015   14.2 out of 20 scored
3. Darling Cellars Blanc de Blanc Brut  2014    13.7 out of 20 scored
3. Pongracz NV                                                     13.7 out of 20 scored

Love the fact that Darling Cellars at the very reasonable price of R85 did so well.

Had a wonderful fun day.  Looking forward to the next one.