Made with passion and no added sulphur, Mudita Cap Classique is made for celebrating: life, joy, everything!
Bubbly is the epitome of celebration and joy. So when it came to naming our Cap Classique, we wanted something special. Mudita is one of the four Buddhist heart practices. There is no English equivalent for this Sanskrit word, but it's meaning resonated with us:
Celebrating the joy of others
Our home
Nestled on our smallholding in the picturesque Ida's Valley, Stellenbosch, we have slowly created our little haven.
2025 saw the maiden vintage being produced in our small 10t cellar.
WHY BE NORMAL?
In the vineyard
With limited space to plant, we had to do things a little unconventionally. The champenoise use high-density planting, so why can't we?
The Chardonnay & Pinot noir block and the Pinot Blanc block are both planted in high-density 1m x 1m rows using the taille chablis pruning method, which creates an increased leaf surface area. The Petit Meslier is also planted 1m x 1m, using échalas (stok-by-paaltjie). Our Chardonnay vines are planted between rows of lime trees so they have a 3m high trellis in order to chase the sun. Even the vine pergola outside our cellar has been grafted to Pinot blanc.
In all, we have just over 1,000 vines destined to make our Estate Cap Classique.
The rest of the Mudita range is made from grapes sourced from selected sites in various regions.
PIONEERING SPIRIT
Petit Meslier
There are seven official cultivars authorised for use in Champagne production. The most commonly used are Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay. The four forgotten grape varieties are Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Arbane and Petit Meslier.
Our recent vintages (which are still on the lees) use five of these seven cultivars.
Petit Meslier is known for its ability to produce refreshing acidity and contributing green fruit, citrus and floral aromas to blends.
In 2024 we planted the first Petit Meslier vines in South Africa. The first Petit Meslier wine that we make will need to undergo an evaluation process by the Technical Committee of the Wine Certification Authority (WCA) before it will be recognised as an official cultivar in South Africa.
Little did we know that we would be introducing an ancient cultivar to the SA wine industry!
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Vineyard blocks
Our children, Nicolas and Sarah, are both passionate rugby players, hence we are avid rugby fans. Following a certain incident at the 2023 Rugby World Cup our vineyard block names have a cheeky little 'kant' theme:
Duskant: Chardonnay
Oorkant: Pinot Noir & Chardonnay
Voorkant: Petit Meslier
Bokant: Pinot Blanc
Wenkant: Pinot Blanc
No added sulphur
All wines naturally have a small amount of sulphur. Traditionally, sulphur is also added to wine to preserve the colour and flavour in wine and to protect the wine from spoilage by inhibiting microbial activity.
At Mudita, we have perfected our production method which allows us to make our Cap Classiques with no added sulphur.