Best Cap Classique wines to drink in 2024

If you’re a sucker for sparkling but without the budget to splurge on free-flowing Champagne, consider looking further south.

Cap Classique – previously known as Méthode Cap Classique – is South Africa’s answer to the famous French fizz. Like champers, a bottle can only be labelled as Cap Classique if it’s produced following some very specific rules. It must be made in the traditional method of sparkling wine production, meaning a secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle to create the fine bubbles. It must also have 12 months on the lees, when the wine ages on yeast particles to develop complexity. 

Of course, the main difference between Cap Classique and Champagne is the grapes used. All must be grown in South Africa and, although there are no restrictions on which ones can be used, the most popular are usually Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

It’s believed that the first bottle of Cap Classique was produced by winemaker Frans Malan in 1971. He visited the Champagne region in France and returned home to apply the same methods he had seen used there in South Africa, producing the first Cap Classique at his Simonsig wine estate. 

There are now 11 million bottles of Cap Classique produced each year, with the UK the biggest importer, quaffing more than one million bottles last year. Pop the cork and you can expect a dry, elegant fizz with crisp acidity, a long aftertaste and refined flavours of citrus, almond and apple. Non-vintage fizz is made from a blend of different harvests, while vintage bottles are made from one year’s harvest – though this does not necessarily mean they’re superior. 

Just chill the bottle and get sipping.