Rickety Bridge, located in Franschhoek walk away with an
Outstanding Double Gold medal (average score of over 90 points) as well as
having the highest score in the Blanc de Blancs category for their vintage
2009, a 100% Franschhoek Chardonnay, was awarded South Africa’s best vintage
Blanc de Blancs for 2013 at Amorim Tsogo Sun Cap Classique Challenge.
Here under and exclusive interview with Wynand Grobler,
cellar master of Rickety Bridge, relating his wine making philosophy in crafting
a world class traditional method sparkling wine
Tell our readers a little more about your
winery and how long you have been making wine and why your chosen location to
make wine and in particular MCC, what is special about your site?
I have been at making wine at Rickety Bridge for 6 years now since
November 2007 and we have an old school approach to making wine with limited
interference in the cellar, we do the hard graft in the vineyards and allow
them to show us their full potential in the cellar.
Franschhoek has amazing vineyards and this is exactly why we decided to
make this MCC from this perfect site for Chardonnay grapes. The decomposed
granite soils give the wine structure and complexity but great finesse and
linearity.
Explain us your viticultural approach and
philosophy, as we all know, it’s all starts in the dirt to make very good to
great wines?
We follow sustainable practices in the vineyards where we don’t use any
herbicide or pesticide. This is obviously great for nature in the long run! The
vineyards also seem to crop and find that perfect balance by themselves. We
find the vines are naturally in balance and more concentrated. We choose our
sites and soil types on the wine styles we would like to make and believe this
also gives the wines consistency.
Viticulturist are very often the unsung heroes
of the South African wine industry and we all know, demanding style such as
MCC, needs optimum grape quality, tell us more about your viticulturist?
With great and skilled teams in the vineyards it makes it easy for me to
manage and source our vineyards and grapes. As you can gather our approach is
very much that the wine is made in the vineyard so viticultural practices are
key.
MCC’s will never be Champagne, however the
quality are of a very high standards and represents some of the very best value
bottle sparkling wine in the world, tell us more about the climate and soil
your grapes come from?
As an industry we are still learning but top South African bubbly can
rival that of Champagne any day. We have sunny slopes that are cool in the
evenings with great soils that lends itself to make world class bubbly.
Do you have any preferences over site specific,
i.e Estate / region/district/ward wine of origin over Western Cape /
Coastal Region blends, if so give us more details?
Franschhoek has exploded lately with many of the top wines in SA
carrying the Wine of Origin Franschhoek. Here we have the potential to make
well-structured elegant wines with identity and character, so I have to say
Franschhoek is my regional favourite by a long way.
How long you have been making MCC?
Since 2009
How many styles of MCC’s you produce under your
brand?
Two – Blanc de blancs vintage and Brut Rose
Tell us more about your winning MCC and it’s
winemaking process as well as the percentage blends if any making the final
wine?
We stick to basics and work to keep the wine clean and neutral with
secondary aging characters most important. The wine is made from 100%
Chardonnay of which half is barrel fermented and aged in old small French oak.
After 6 months the two components are blended and bottled and left to
mature on the lees - in this case for longer than 40 months!
What is your view on Reserve wine added prior
to dosage, what would be your average percentage, if any use in your house
style?
About 10% of the wine is reserve wine that is added prior to bottling
and this adds to the fullness and complexity of the wine.
What MCC style are your aiming for?
We aim to have a classy, well integrated, biscuity driven Blanc de
blancs that leaves your palate refreshed with length and aftertaste. Although
50% of the wine is barrel fermented and aged we don’t want oaky caramel to be
the wines primary flavour profile, freshness must ultimately prevail.
With the new emerging market locally preferring
wines with higher residual sugar, what is your philosophy on dosage and where
do you draw the line?
Dosage is good as long as it adds to the wine and doesn’t bland or sweet
it out. I strive (with all our wines) to find that perfect balance between
acidity and sweetness and if that balance is achieved we find it is well
received no matter what the residual sugar is.
What are the source / origin of the grape(s)
used in the winning wine?
Franschhoek
Stylistically, where do you intend taking the
wine in the next 5 to 10 years?
We are very happy with the style and will stick to our guns with this
wine, working and focusing even harder to get the best grapes out of the
vineyards.
How many approximately bottles do you produce
per each style?
Between 2000 and 4500btls
Countries exported?
Our MCC is currently only exported to Europe and the UK
Top local on trade customers supporting the
wines or where can your MCC be found to be purchased and enjoy?
Currently from the Estate
Your favorite food pairings or recommendation
to be enjoyed with your winning MCC?
Nothing, it’s great on its own…..and then of course oysters, pavlova
with berries, salmon and creme fraiche
Do you have a special cellar door deal for
readers of MCWJ to purchase your MCC over the holiday period?
We can offer readers a 10% off cellar door prices
What is the average selling of your MCC’s,
cellar door / retail?
Blanc de blancs = R170, Brut Rose= R125
