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Cap Classique: South Africa’s sparkling wine success story

Many of South Africa’s top-range sparkling wines have been frustratingly out of reach to wine lovers on UK shores, but thankfully that’s changing. Here we present the results from our expert’s recent comprehensive tasting across the category.

Traditional-method sparkling wine from South Africa, known as Cap Classique, has transformed itself. Both established and emerging producers now represent an effervescent, dynamic and ambitious sparkling wine scene that pulls every register in the vineyard and cellar to deliver quality. At long last, the best of these wines are making it to our shores, ready to make you sit up and take notice.


Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 20 top Cap Classique sparkling wines


In recent years, Cap Classique has been one of South Africa’s fastest-growing wine categories – a striking achievement for a country where vineyard hectarage is shrinking (from more than 100,000ha in 2012, falling steadily to 89,384ha in 2022, according to data from SA Wine Industry Information and Systems).


Krebiehl’s pick: top Cap Classique sparklers to enjoy


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