Tokara Cap Classique Blanc de Blancs 2018 is a Chardonnay sparkling wine from Elgin, a cool-climate region well suited to wines that rely on tension, fine mousse, and slow development on the lees. This is a Cap Classique built in a more serious, cellar-shaped style, where autolytic depth and freshness are held in careful balance. It offers the kind of detail and structure that makes Blanc de Blancs so compelling when given time.
In the glass, it shows a pale gold color with a faint green edge and a fine, persistent mousse. The nose opens with lemon meringue, gingerbread, and a subtle flinty note, while the palate brings green apple, preserved lemon, barley syrup, and toasted almond. There is texture here, but the wine stays focused and precise, with a saline line that carries through a crisp, tightly drawn finish. It would pair especially well with oysters, sushi, roast chicken, or creamy seafood dishes where its freshness and lees complexity can work together naturally.
In the glass, it shows a pale gold color with a faint green edge and a fine, persistent mousse. The nose opens with lemon meringue, gingerbread, and a subtle flinty note, while the palate brings green apple, preserved lemon, barley syrup, and toasted almond. There is texture here, but the wine stays focused and precise, with a saline line that carries through a crisp, tightly drawn finish. It would pair especially well with oysters, sushi, roast chicken, or creamy seafood dishes where its freshness and lees complexity can work together naturally.
Hand-harvested Chardonnay grapes were whole-bunch pressed, using only the finest free-run juice. Fermented in seasoned French oak barrels, the wine matured on lees with regular stirring for added texture and complexity. After full malolactic fermentation and seven months of barrel aging, it was bottled for a second fermentation and spent 74 months on the lees. Disgorged in December 2023, this Cap Classique delivers depth, finesse, and a refined mousse.
Winemaker : Stuart Botha
Winemaker : Stuart Botha
South African Tokara winery, on the R310 outside Stellenbosch, is nestled among vineyards and olive groves on the crest of the Helshoogte Pass with sweeping views across False Bay and all the way to Table Mountain. With elevations of between 350m and 550m, soil profiles are of weathered sandstone and decomposed granite - the combination lending structure, perfume and longevity to their wines.
