Steenberg Vineyards has achieved the ultimate accolade in South African Cap Classique, with their Lady R Cap Classique 2019 taking the overall winner prize at the 2025 Amorim Cap Classique Challenge. The Constantia-based producer’s classic Brut first dominated the Brut Blends category before edging out winners from other sectors to claim the competition’s top honour – a ceremonial sabrage sword.
The victory marks a significant achievement for Steenberg, in what has become the country’s most prestigious Cap Classique competition. Now in its 24th consecutive year, the Amorim Cap Classique Challenge attracted 152 entries across six categories this year.
Strong competition across all categories
The competition showcased the breadth and quality of South African Cap Classique across multiple categories. Robertson’s Graham Beck claimed victory in the Blanc de Blancs category with their 2019 vintage, while Kleine Zalze’s Brut Rosé (non-vintage) led the Rosé offerings.
In the Extended Ageing class for wines seven years and older, Stellenbosch’s Tokara Estate took top honours with their Tokara Blanc de Blanc Cap Classique 2017. The Nectar category saw Krone’s Night Nectar Blanc de Blancs 2021 claiming the trophy.
A new Blanc de Noir category was introduced this year for the first time, attracting four entries. While no trophy was awarded in this inaugural class, Graham Beck’s Pinot Meunier Cap Classique 2022 received a Gold medal as the category’s standout wine.
The competition’s judging panel awarded six Double Gold medals to wines scoring 96 points and above, while 30 wines achieved Gold medal status with scores between 93 and 95 points.
Cape Wine Master Heidi Duminy, who convened the judging panel, praised this year’s entries as “a glorious exposure to the quality and diversity of Cap Classique wines.”
“The category for Brut blends varied from wines with richness and assertive palate presence, to fresh, pure and invigorating Brut sparkling wines,” Duminy explained. “Blanc de Blancs are always spectacular in their freshness and purity, with lees complexity creating a vivid, multi-layered diversity.”
She particularly highlighted the Extended Ageing category, noting: “Wines seven years and older truly showed the magnificence our own Cap Classiques can show when allowed lengthy time in bottle on the lees during secondary fermentation. Patience is rewarded!”
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A celebration of South African terroir
Joaquim Sá, Managing Director of Cork South Africa and founder of the competition in 2002, described the challenge as more than just a contest.
“Cap Classique is a living testament to South Africa’s viticultural landscape and its heritage, honouring both the country’s vinous legacy and the talented producers crafting this magical category of bottle fermented sparkling wines,” he said.
Sá emphasised that Cap Classique’s strength lies in its remarkable regional diversity. “Unlike many other sparkling styles confined to specific appellations, South African producers draw from a broad spectrum of terroirs – from Darling and Robertson to Elgin, Durbanville, and Paarl, among others.”
The Brut Blends and Blanc de Blancs categories both attracted the highest number of entries with 43 each, followed by Rosé (37), Nectar (13), and Extended Ageing (12). The new Blanc de Noir category drew four inaugural entries.
The competition, sponsored since inception by cork producer Amorim – which has been crafting cork stoppers for the international wine industry for over 150 years – continues to celebrate South African sparkling wine excellence that began with Simonsig’s first Cap Classique in Stellenbosch in 1971.
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