It is no secret that I am massive fan of a glass of bubbly – the French’er, the better; particularly, when in good company and in the sunshine. This past Saturday, Ilaria and I attended the SNG Celebration of Bubbles at the Inanda Club where all three elements came into play. It is, perhaps, fitting to attend such an event at the end of summer (I can’t lie to myself any more, autumn is definitely on its way) when we welcomed the start of the sunny season in a similar fashion.
The first Celebration of Bubbles took place last year, and it now seems to have transpired into a yearly occurrence which should definitely be regarded as a must-do on the event calendar.
The recently renovated Inanda Club was the perfect host to the day – elegant, sparkling and chilled. Our entrance included 10 tickets, which allowed for a tasting glass, a flute or even a bottle of the South African MCC. Amongst the local producers, were also 4 French Champagne Houses – including Verve Cliquot (and its eponymous yellow label) and Piper-Heidsieck.
On such a glorious day, Ilaria and I were all about the pink (rose) bubbles. We tasted some phenomenally good local variants – the Krone Rose a stand-out – but before all that we treated ourselves to a glass of the good stuff. We tried a glass of the Piper-Heidsieck Rose which was the very good stuff – the bubbles so delicate it became easy to justify the premium price we paid for that glass.
A handful of food trucks were parked in the venue providing lunch time treats – we shared a delicious Thai chicken burger from Local Gourmet and one of the vegetarian flat breads of Streat Cuisine. Both were light enough to compliment the bubbles, although I think we both would have enjoyed a cheese platter for snacking (hint hint 🙂 )
Ilaria has not always been the biggest fan of a glass of bubbly, but I think (and hope!) that after our tasting session on Saturday she may be a convert; and just in time for our trip to Paris 😉