A career in dentistry beckoned for Pieter Ferreira, cellar master at sparkling wine specialist Graham Beck… though fortunately for the world, ‘Mr Bubbles’ – as he’s affectionately known – sidestepped into wine in the 1980s, cutting his teeth at Pierre Jourdan in Franschhoek, South Africa’s first dedicated producer of Cap Classique fizz.
Moving to Graham Beck in the ‘90s, for the last 30 years Ferreira has been busy perfecting the art of traditional method sparkling winemaking in South Africa, helping to make Graham Beck – which only produces sparkling wine – the benchmark for Cap Classique around the globe.
In episode 99 of The Drinking Hour, host David Kermode chats to Ferreira, who was recently named chief operating officer at Graham Beck, about his restless pursuit of the perfect bubble, why Champagne is a constant source of divine inspiration to him, the trials and tribulations of making English fizz in Hampshire, the importance of trusting your gut, and how our palates can be trained over time.
Discover more episodes of The Drinking Hour with David Kermode here
