Simonsig marks 55 years of Kaapse Vonkel, South Africa's first Cap Classique

Simonsig is celebrating the 55th anniversary of Kaapse Vonkel, the wine credited with introducing South Africans to bottle-fermented sparkling wine, ahead of national Cap Classique Day on 1 September.

Irmie Maarman of Wine.co.za writes that Frans Malan launched Kaapse Vonkel in 1971 at a time when the local market was dominated by sweeter, carbonated sparkling wines. His son, Johan, recalled that the bone-dry, bottle-fermented wine was a hard sell at first – priced at R3 a bottle in 1972, making it the most expensive wine in the country at the time – and that the challenge lay as much in explaining the traditional method, with its extended lees ageing, as in making the wine itself.

Frans made the wine using only Chenin Blanc, the sole variety available to him then, driven by a belief that South African vineyards could produce something distinctly their own rather than an imitation of Champagne.

The estate has since found that Chardonnay performs exceptionally well on Simonsig's soils and has become central to its Cap Classique blends, according to Johan, who said the estate remains committed to the classic method with no shortcuts once the base wines have been selected.

Michael Malan, the third generation now running the winemaking side, said the fruit for the range is sourced from across the Cape, including Robertson, Bonnievale, Wellington, Durbanville, Hemel-en-Aarde and Elgin, with each vineyard contributing a different building block to the blend.

Both men trace their connection to the wine back to childhood memories of harvest at the family cellar – Johan to the smell and taste of fermenting grape juice on his walk home from school, and Michael to running to the cellar after being dropped off by his mother, and to suppers she brought there during the three months of harvest when the family otherwise saw little of his father.

Michael, whose first harvest was in 2018, said he was never pressured to join the family business but never looked back once he did, describing the role as inheriting a responsibility to carry forward what previous generations built.

The current Kaapse Vonkel range spans six wines – Satin Nectar, Satin Nectar Rosé, Brut, Brut Rosé, Cuvée Royale and Satin Royale – all produced using the traditional Cap Classique method.