Choosing a dress code based on two colours is a foolproof way to add elegance to an event. It brings a level of sophisticated uniformity while still leaving a lot of room for creativity. The annual white-and-blue themed L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate is a good example of this and so too was this weekend’s white and black ‘Magic of Bubbles’ Cap Classique & Champagne Festival in Franschhoek.
But the lawn of the Huguenot Monument was not solely filled with guys in crisp white shirts and ladies with half a white sparrow stuck on their heads. This celebration of the magical liquid attracted all sorts from white rastas to girls in hopelessly impractical-for-the-grass stilettos.
There were eight farms representing a selection of ‘true’ Champagne including Veuve Clicquot, Theirry Lesne and Piper Heidsieck (their Rose Sauvage is the new headliner in my dreams). Not to be outdone by their French counter parts, over 30 local farms offered their very best flutes of Cap Classique as well as South African favourites such as Graham Beck, Pongracz, Krone, Môreson, Simonsig and Pierre Jourdan.
As far I as could see no one was getting married or graduating, which added fuel to my conviction: as special as Cap Classique/Champagne is, it tastes even better on regular days. In fact I might just pop open one of the stowaways from the weekend right now.
Jana van Heerden
@woict_girl
Franschhoek’s ‘Magic of Bubbles’ Cap Classique Festival was held 3 and 4 December 2011.
