South African Sparkling Wine: A Hidden Treasure
When the International Wine Review did its exhaustive tasting of sparkling wines a couple of years ago, South Africa was poorly represented with just one—albeit very good—wine. When we traveled to South Africa in November we decided to correct this oversight. We tasted over 40 méthode champenoise sparkling wines made with traditional Champagne grape varieties and given extended aging on the lees. We recently had the opportunity to taste some sparklers we missed in November—hence, this update.
Unfortunately, South Africa keeps their sparkling treasure hidden from the rest of the world. Internationally, South Africa is best known for its outstanding Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Pinotage and other still wines. Our reviews of South African sparklers can be found below.
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