Food & Wine

Wine Crush Wednesday-Rickety Bridge Blanc de Blancs 2012

Wine Crush Wednesday-Rickety Bridge Blanc de Blancs 2012 1

Winemaker Wynand Grobler believes that in order to produce good wine one has to to stick to basics

With a low yield of only 4.5 tonnes per hectre I think it was sticking to these classics that allowed Rickety Bridge at the helm of Groblers skill since 1997 to bring home one of only two Golds for Method Cap Classique for Franschhoek at this years Amorim Cap Classique Challenge.

A delicously rounded 100% Chardonnay based MCC with typical toasted Brioche from the older small French oak barrels used in fermentation and a hint of Granny Smith styled acidity offered a great easy -everyday- drinking wine yet able to hold its own when paired with a summer’s dish like sashimi, oysters or crayfish.

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We love these oysters 3 ways by Bianca Davies of The Secret Life of Bee

Oysters Hospitality Hedonist

Oysters Mignonette

We chatted to the talented, good looking Winemaker about the awards & winning Gold:

“Our maiden 2009 Blanc de Blancs was honoured with the Trophy for Best Blanc de Blancs Vintage at the 2013 Challenge, and this year, we are overjoyed that our second release, vintage 2012, was the only vintage Blanc de Blancs to receive Gold”,

“We believed we had a winner with our first foray into the world of Cap Classique, when we identified an exceptional low-yielding Chardonnay vineyard on the sandstone slopes of the Franschhoek Mountain. These accolades are testament to this remarkable vineyard and to Rickety Bridge’s commitment to excellence and consistency, and affirm the exceptional quality of Cap Classiques from the Franschhoek Valley”,

concluded Wynand.
With only 2850 bottles of Rickety Bridge’s Blanc de Blancs golden 2012 vintage being produced the R240.00 is well worth it!

More About Rickety Bridge & it’s Viticulture:

During the late 1980s, the estate, then known as Zandrift, started a new era of development with a replanting programme which was initiated in 1989 and in 1992 the first wine was produced from these vines.

The total size of the Rickety Bridge wine estate is 56 Hectares of which 25 Hectares are made up of currently producing vines with another 6 Hectares under development. Rickety Bridge also owns the neighbouring property, Basse Provence, which is home to a further 11 Hectares of vines.

The vineyards are broken down into the following cultivars: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Semillon. Wynand believes that the actual quality of the grapes harvested, arising from good viticultural practices, is crucial to ensure the best possible wine is bottled.

In order to achieve the consistent high quality, Rickety Bridge also sources specific grapes from other areas or microclimates to suit the requirements of the winery by lifting quality and ensuring a premium product which sets Rickety Bridge apart from other producers.


For the Recipe on Oysters Three ways : The Secret Life of Bee (images supplied)

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