Domaine des Dieux, Methode Cap Classique, Brut, Claudia, South Africa, 2016

Here’s the full tasting note for...

Domaine des Dieux, Methode Cap Classique, Brut, Claudia, South Africa, 2016

Here is the latest vintage of this superb South African MCC (i.e. made in the same way as Champagne), acknowledged as one of the very best sparkling wines in the Cape. At the 21st Amorim Cap Classique Challenge held on 22nd September 2022 at Tintswalo Atlantic in Cape Town, Claudia 2016 was named best wine overall out of the 126 entries to the competition; and Des Dieux won the show’s trophy for best sparkling producer for the third time in eight years. From 76% Chardonnay and 24% Pinot Noir, with six years on its lees, it stands comparison with plenty of far more expensive vintage Champagnes: yeasty, creamy and with great breadth on the palate. Now-2025

The Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, which translates as Heaven on Earth, rises prettily from just west of Hermanus. When we first visited in 2003 the wineries, notably Hamilton Russell and Bouchard Finlayson, were all in the lower part of the valley, but more recently plantings at the top of the valley - higher, drier, with warmer days but cooler nights - have increased. Enjoying naturally low pH soils, and moderate temperatures, cooled by winds from the ocean, this really is a sweet spot in the Cape.

Domaine des Dieux is a small estate just above Ataraxia at the very top of the valley in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge zone. The farm, with vineyards on the slopes of the Babylon's Toren mountain, was bought in 2002, with an initial focus on making the first sparkling wines in Hemel-en-Aarde (and boy have they succeeded) but still Chardonnay and Pinot Noir followed. Des Dieux have an interesting model: they have 20 hectares of unirrigated vines but no cellar (and no electricity on site either!). Winemaking of each of the wines is overseen by a specialist winemaker in local cellars.