MCC and Champagne Festival

So....one last trip before moving...immigrating....to.....well....i guess some of you might not know....we are immigrating to Italy.....actually very soon.....December, but before that, let me share our last weekend...in this blog....the MCC and Champagne Festival, it was long over-due that we visited the Method Cap Classique and Champagne Festival in Franschoek, held every year at the beginning of December on a Saturday and Sunday (normally first weekend in December). We have been in South Africa for 18.5 years and somehow we never managed to go to this festival...well...in all fairness for 6.5 of those years i was actually not allowed to drink....hahaha.....moving on now...let's get to the point...the bubbly festival....

So we arrived in Franschhoek on Friday.....and we decided to go an enjoy the bubbly festival on the Saturday, good thing that we booked the tickets ahead of time cause it was sold out.....the festival opens at 12pm and lasts until 5pm. So we arrived promptly at 12, only to already find a long line of people...but i guess they had only just opened the gates, so the line was a given, however, the line was moving quite quickly....once inside we struggled to find shade....it was 36 degrees, so yes, we definitely needed shade....we finally located an umbrella.....next struggle...the chairs....in the end we found a long wooden bench that we moved to our table and umbrella.....once all that was organised it was time to start tasting....but before i go there....let me share a pic of festival....

Pic of MCC and Champagne Festival

Upon entrance you received a bubbly glass and a plastic card which was loaded with 10 points (1 point= R10). Each stand you could taste and would give your card, some tastings required 1 point others 2 points and some champagnes even 5 points...of course one could reload this card at any time....or one could also pay cash for a glass of bubbly or a bottle of bubbly....kim and i started our tasting.....while mom, dad and mutti bought a bottle of the Morena bubbly....the white one...and watched little Sofia. Kim and i tried various bubbly's before returning to the rest of the gang....i must say...i did not have a favourite bubbly...they really were all good.....but i still love my Graham Beck bubbly.

The well known local MCC producers that were there included Pierre Jordan, Morena, Moreson, La Motte, Boschendal, Colmant, Leopard's Leap, Noble Hill, Plaisir de Merle, Anthonij Rupert Wyne, JC Le Roux, Pongracz, Simonsig, Steenberg, Villiera, Graham Beck.....famous champagne present was Veuve Clicquot, Piper Heidsieck and Guy Charbaut.....

Once kim and i were back from our first round tasting..mom and dad went off, Mutti was too hot and decided to stay with us....upon their return it was time to get some delicious foodies....but first let me share a pic of us enjoying our Morena bubbly....

Enjoying our Morena bubbly
Kim and Sofia enjoying bubbly
Kim, Sofia and I

The various food places inlcuded; bread & wine, salmon bar, haute cabriere, mont rochelle....etc etc....we opted to try the salmon bar where we had gravalax salmon with poatoes and sour cream on a short crust pastry. We also tried the bar where we could have various Italian cold cuts....and fresh bread and bread sticks....and man....it was very delcicious...exactly what everyone wanted on such a hot summer's day....let me share some pics of the food....

Cold meats

Of course the excursion was not complete without buying one bottle of Champagne...cause we needed to check the difference....MCC vs Champagne...both of course made by the same method....so we purchased a rose Veuve Clicquot...which came with the rose champagne cooler as well as two Veuve Clicquot bubbly glasses.....and......(drum roll)......we all agreed unanimously that the there is no difference between a Veuve Clicquot and a good South African MCC.....meaning...one like a Graham Beck....they can compete with absoloutely no problem at all......the good old South Africans do know how to make bubbly...let me share some more pics of the festival....

Kim and Veuve Cliquot

 

Sofia and Kim tasting
Mutti and me

By 3pm we had all had enough....we thought it was time to enjoy the pool a little at the guest house. We all really enjoyed the MCC and Champagne festival....and i would definitely recommend to anyone to go there....what a nice experience....and vibe...there was even a live band that played....and so many bubbly's to choose from....really great.

Im not gonna chat about the rest of the evening...cause there will be a few more blogs to follow on Franschoek...well...actually two more...one about the Boschendal wine estate and one about the "Random Rest", which also deserves to be mentioned.....

For now though...i say cheers....and i hope you enjoyed this blog...in fact i hope you will consider attending the MCC and Champagne Festival In Franschhoek.

 

 

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