Magic of bubbles 2011






Yes, that's me. I spent most of this past weekend gorging myself on champagne; strawberries; strawberries in champagne; chocolate strawberries; flat bread with cured ham and olive tapenade, oysters, and more MCCs than I could count.
That's right – it was the fifth Magic of Bubbles Champagne and Cap Classic Festival (www.franschhoek.org.za).

The glass of bubbly isn't the only thing that looks rosy – check out my cheeks. That's bubbly bliss

As most of you would imagine, I emerged broke, hungover and a couple kg's heavier.

Well... in actually fact, I emerged only mildly hungover, tanned and probably the same weight as it so tremendously hot, that I was sweating out the bubbly before it could land on my hips.
Yes it was 41 degrees at 3:30 in Franschhoek on Sunday.
This also meant I drank a lot of water, leaving me only mildly hungover.
As for the money spent... well, I was lucky enough to get free tickets and then I just paid for tasting coupons (R100 for 10). Admittedly, these didn't last very long...
But as my fiance wasn't really drinking (he drove), so I enjoyed a vast portion of his share :)

The festival was bigger than it had ever been, and very well attended. Some of us were even convinced that we spotted Lady Gaga (after someone heard she was in SA from the radio). I'm not entirely sure... maybe the bubbles were obscuring our vision.

MCC highlights for me were: Avondale's bio-dynamic MCC (www.avondalewine.co.za), Silverthorn's shiraz MCC (www.silverthornwines.co.za), Grootepost's Sparkle and the newly released winemaker's signature bubbly 'Aurelia' Brut (www.grootepost.com) and Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rose (www.simonsig.co.za). Even though I went over two days, there were many stands I didn't get to.

I had the best time though and can't wait for next year! It's definitely one of those December events not-to-be-missed on the calendar.

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