MCC Zero Dosage
£29.00
£38.67 per litre · incl. 20% VAT
In Stock — 11 bottles available
92Tim Atkin MW
92Platter's South African Wine Guide
Sparkling wine with the bling stripped away. Black Elephant Vintners' Cap Classique is a Chardonnay-led blend from Franschhoek, made in the traditional method with zero dosage, bone-dry, beautifully fine-beaded, and ready for anything from a dinner party toast to a Tuesday night that needs lifting. The label you can barely read is half the fun.
Not for sale to persons under 18. Adult signature required on delivery.
Our Verdict
We've poured a lot of Cap Classique over the years, and this one keeps earning its spot. The zero-dosage style is a brave call, there's nowhere to hide when you strip out the sugar, but Black Elephant pull it off with a Chardonnay-led blend that feels precise rather than lean. It's the bottle we reach for when we want sparkling wine that tastes like sparkling wine, not pudding. Perfect for the drinker who finds most Prosecco too sweet and most Champagne too pricey. If you like this style, the rest of the Black Elephant range is worth a look, these are winemakers having genuine fun.
Tasting Notes
A fine, persistent mousse leads into a nose of fresh lemon zest, just-picked red apple, and the gentle yeasty lift of bottle-aged Cap Classique. The Chardonnay-led palate (75% of the blend) brings creamy texture and citrus precision, while a quarter-portion of Pinot Noir adds a savoury core and a flash of red cherry through the mid-palate. With sugar dialled back well below Brut levels, the finish runs clean, dry and properly mouth-watering, the kind of bubbles that genuinely refresh rather than cloy.
About This Wine
Here's a Cap Classique that doesn't take itself too seriously, and is all the better for it. Black Elephant Vintners are the self-styled Rebels of the Vine, a trio of Franschhoek mates making wine to a rock 'n' roll soundtrack, and this MCC is their statement piece. Stripped-back label, stripped-back winemaking, and a sparkling wine that lets the fruit do the talking. It's a classic blend in the Champagne mould: roughly three-quarters Chardonnay for elegance and citrus drive, the rest Pinot Noir for depth and a touch of red-fruit complexity. Made in the traditional method with a second fermentation in bottle, then released zero dosage, meaning no sweetening liqueur added at disgorgement. The result is genuinely dry, with a fine, persistent mousse and aromas of lemon zest, freshly picked red apple, and a whisper of brioche from time on the lees. The palate adds cherry and a creamy, almost custardy weight that keeps it from feeling austere. Franschhoek, the French Corner, has been making wine since the Huguenots arrived in the late 1600s, and the cool mountain-trapped air gives sparkling wines from here real focus. Brilliant as an aperitif with salted almonds, fantastic with anything fried (think tempura prawns or proper fish and chips), and a serious match for goat's cheese. Delivered across the UK, and a properly thoughtful gift for anyone who's bored of the same old fizz.
Food Pairing
This is sociable, food-friendly fizz. Crack it open with a platter of fresh oysters, smoked salmon blinis, or salt-and-pepper squid. It's brilliant alongside a roast chicken Sunday lunch, and the bone-dry finish handles fish and chips beautifully. For something simpler, pour it with goat's cheese on toast or a wedge of Cornish brie.
- —Fresh oysters with lemon and mignonette
- —Smoked salmon blinis with crème fraîche
- —Salt-and-pepper squid
- —Roast chicken with thyme and lemon
- —Battered cod and chips with malt vinegar
How to Serve
Decanting
No decanting required, and definitely don't. You want to keep every last bubble in the glass. Just open, pour, and enjoy the fine, persistent mousse straight from the bottle.
Ageing & Cellaring
Released ready to drink and best enjoyed within two to three years of purchase. Non-vintage Cap Classique is built for immediate pleasure, with the fruit at its most vivid and the mousse at its liveliest now, there's nothing to gain by holding onto it.
The Winemaking
Made in the traditional Cap Classique method, with secondary fermentation in bottle to build that fine, persistent mousse. The blend leans on Chardonnay for citrus brightness and elegance, with Pinot Noir adding depth and a savoury length on the palate. What sets this apart is the dosage, or rather, the near absence of it. At 8g/l of residual sugar, it sits well below the Brut threshold, giving a drier, more focused style that still feels generous and approachable rather than austere.
About the Producer
Black Elephant Vintners
Some producers let the wine speak for itself. Black Elephant Vintners lets the label do a bit of shouting too, and once you know the story, you understand why.
This Franschhoek outfit is the work of three friends, Kevin Swart, Jacques Wentzel and Raymond Ndlovu, who pooled their different backgrounds and decided winemaking should be taken seriously without taking itself too seriously. The name is a play on two of those surnames: Swart and Ndlovu become 'black elephant', and Jacques supplies the 'vintner'. It's a small joke that tells you a lot about how this team thinks.
They call themselves the Rebels of the Vine, a loose, collaborative team who work off good music and better instincts as much as convention. That irreverence shows up everywhere, from wine names like 'Three Men in a Tub With a Rubber Duck' to 'The Fox & The Flamingo', but underneath the whimsy is proper, considered winemaking. Fruit comes from vineyard sites scattered across the Franschhoek valley, with cooler parcels from Elgin, on the Cape coast, brought in specifically for their Méthode Cap Classique. That reach across warmer valley floor and cool coastal sites gives them options most single-vineyard producers don't have.
We stock Black Elephant Vintners because South African wine doesn't need to be earnest to be excellent. Alongside the structured, serious reds of Stellenbosch, it's worth remembering the Cape also produces winemakers who want you to smile before you even pull the cork. The wines back up the joke: bright, well-made Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, a savoury red blend with real character, and a Zero Dosage MCC that shows genuine technical skill behind the playful branding.
If you've only ever associated Franschhoek with fine dining and formal tasting rooms, this is the other side of the valley: same quality, same sense of place, considerably more fun in the telling.