Flying the flag for female Cap Classique winemakers

Brian Berkman visited Klein Botrivier Farm, on Karwyderskraal Road in the Overberg's Bot River, to learn about Melissa Genevieve Nelsen's Méthode Cap Classique winemaking.

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AIthough the role that women play in agriculture (and in the world as a whole) remains entirely underestimated, the Champagne and Méthode Cap Classique (MCC) industry might not be the global powerhouse it is today without Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin. Born in Reims, France, in 1977, Ponsardin become known as the Widow Clicquot at 27 when she continued her late husband's business.

Not only is she credited with changing the industry by solving one of its greatest problems - how to successfully remove the yeasty sedimentation from the bottle after fermentation - but also for the remuage or riddling system that began in her kitchen when she made a series of riddled holes in her timber kitchen table. She placed wine bottles neck-down in the holes and periodically turned them until the sediment collected in the neck.

"After chilling and removing the cap, the pressure in the bottle, greater than in the tyres of your car, pops out the dead yeast cells called lees in the disgorging process, leaving only a clear liquid in the bottle," says Melissa Genevieve Nelsen, founder of Genevieve MCC (Méthode Cap Classique), produced on Klein Botrivier Farm, while speaking to Farmer's Weekly about inspirational women in her life. She talks about her mother's response when young Nelsen was asked what she wanted to do with her life and proffered "being an air hostess" as a possibility. Her mother said: "If you want to fly, why not be the pilot?"

Nelsen, who later qualified as a pilot, says: "I learnt the importance of precision from being a pilot and how to calculate the fine line between stupidity and bravery.I'm also not apprehensive about what is unknown, which has been beneficial."

FAMILY INSPIRATION