Laborie Blanc de Blancs
£17.29
£23.05 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
Only 2 bottles left
92Wine critics (aggregated, via Wine-Searcher)
91Wine critics (aggregated, via Wine-Searcher)
90Wine critics (aggregated, via Wine-Searcher)
Best Blanc de Blancs / Best dry bottle-fermented wine made exclusively from Chardonnay (2023)Best Wine Overall / Best Producer Overall (2023)Silver (2023)
If you love Champagne but want to drink smarter, this is your bottle. Laborie's Blanc de Blancs is South African Cap Classique done properly: pure Chardonnay, three years on lees, all green apple, lime and toasted brioche. Creamy, racy and elegant, for far less than you'd expect to pay. Pop it for a celebration, or just because it's Friday.
Our Verdict
We taste a lot of Cap Classique, and this is one we keep coming back to. The three years on lees is what does it: that toasty, brioche-rich depth usually means spending a great deal more, and Laborie delivers it for the price of a decent supermarket fizz. It is genuinely award-winning at estate level too, which tells you the consistency is no accident. Perfect for anyone who drinks Champagne but loves a clever find, and a lovely gift. Stock is low at the moment, so don't sit on it if you're tempted.
Tasting Notes
Pour it and the colour gives it away: a deep gold that signals serious time on lees. The nose moves from crisp green apple and a squeeze of lime into something richer, warm toasted bread and roasted hazelnut, the unmistakable mark of 36 months of bottle maturation. On the palate it's creamy and round, with a fine, persistent mousse, yet that ripe Paarl Chardonnay fruit is held taut by racy, almost electric acidity. The finish is long, dry and elegant, savoury rather than sweet.
About This Wine
Here's a sparkling wine that punches well above its price, and you've just found it. Laborie's Blanc de Blancs is made the traditional way, the same painstaking method behind Champagne, using only hand-harvested Chardonnay picked in the cool of the morning and whole-bunch pressed for the cleanest, brightest juice. The result is a Cap Classique with real pedigree from one of the Cape's most historic estates. Pour it and you'll see why it works. Golden in the glass, with green apple, citrus and a lift of lime on the nose, then the deeper notes that only time brings: toasted bread, brioche and hazelnut, a gift of 36 months resting on lees. The palate is creamy and textured, carried by a bright, racy acidity that keeps everything fresh through a long, elegant, dry finish. This is brilliant with oysters, sushi and sashimi, or any delicate seafood, from grilled white fish to a plate of garlic prawns. It's just as happy as an aperitif, well chilled, with a bowl of canapes and good company. Laborie has been making wine in Paarl since 1691, and that long experience shows. We deliver across the UK, usually within a few days, and it makes a genuinely impressive gift for anyone who thinks they have to spend Champagne money to drink this well.
Food Pairing
This was built for the raw bar. Freshly shucked oysters are the classic call, the wine's racy acidity cutting clean through the brine. It's equally at home with a plate of sushi and sashimi, or delicate grilled white fish with lemon. Try it well chilled as an aperitif with fresh goat's cheese and canapes, or alongside garlic prawns to kick off a celebratory meal.
- —Freshly shucked oysters with lemon and a splash of vinegar
- —Sushi and sashimi platter
- —Grilled white fish with lemon and herbs
- —Garlic king prawns
- —Fresh goat's cheese with canapes
How to Serve
Decanting
No decanting needed. This is a sparkling wine, so you want to preserve that fine, persistent mousse. Open it just before serving and pour straight into the glass.
Ageing & Cellaring
Drinking beautifully right now thanks to its extended 36-month lees ageing, so there's no need to wait. That said, a well-stored bottle will hold and slowly deepen its toasty, nutty complexity over the next few years, with the bright acidity acting as a natural preservative.
The Land
Laborie's vineyards sit on granite-derived and decomposed granite soils, the same stone quarried here that found its way into the foundations of South Africa's Parliament. These free-draining soils, paired with cool early-morning picking, give Chardonnay that holds its acidity and lends the wine its mineral spine and precision.
The Winemaking
This is Cap Classique done properly, the same traditional method as Champagne. Chardonnay is hand-picked in the cool of the morning to lock in freshness, then whole-bunch pressed with only the gentle free-run juice kept for the blend. Around half goes through malolactic fermentation, softening the wine and lending a creamy roundness. The magic happens after bottling: a second fermentation in bottle, then a long rest on the lees for three years. That patience is what builds the toasted bread and hazelnut depth.
About the Producer
Laborie
Laborie has been making wine since 1691, when a French Huguenot named Isaac Taillefert was granted a farm on the slopes of Paarl Mountain. He brought his name from a village in Champagne, which is why this estate, three centuries later, still feels destined to make sparkling wine. Within seven years of arrival the family was producing wine that visiting travellers compared favourably with small Champagnes, and the vineyards have been worked continuously ever since. The original Cape Dutch manor house is a National Monument, the surrounding vines have outlasted empires, and today Laborie sits within the KWV stable as one of the Cape's most reliable names for Méthode Cap Classique.