TERRE à TERRE | Premium Australian Wine

Terre à Terre, a French expression meaning Down to Earth, is a small Australian wine domaine run by husband and wife team Xavier Bizot and Lucy Croser.

The close-spaced 7-hectare vineyard is located next to Tapanappa’s Whalebone Vineyard, at the top of a North-South limestone ridge in Wrattonbully, one of Australia’s most exciting regions. The climate is similar to Saint Emilion in France. The Terre à Terre vineyard was first planted in 2004 with 2 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc and 3 hectares of Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2008, 1 hectare each of Cabernet Franc and Shiraz were also planted.

Lucy and Xavier also produce a single vineyard sparkling wine from their vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley. The wine, like the vineyard, is named Daosa.

A new direction for Australian Sauvignon

Author:

Jancis Robinson

Source:

jancisrobinson.com

Review Date:

Thu, 02/05/2013

From a longer article by Jancis Robinson on Australian wine.

The full article can be found here (subscription required): http://www.jancisrobinson.com/tasting_articles/ta201302071.html

…

In the generic London tasting I found the Rieslings particularly good (surprise, surprise) and was glad to see evidence that current styles may be a little less austere than they have been in some recent vintages. I was also extremely impressed by a couple of Sauvignon Blancs. Shaw + Smith's prowess with this fashionable variety is hardly news, but Terre à Terre of Wrattonbully, the new label from ex-Bollinger Xavier Bizot, seems to have introduced, or at least suggested, a completely new direction for Australian Sauvignon.

…

Kind words for our 2012 Sauv Blanc from the great Jancis Robinson

Author:

Jancis Robinson

Source:

JancisRobinson.com

Review Date:

Thu, 02/05/2013

A great review from one of the worlds top palates - Jancis Robinson

Distinctly firm, very fresh, fruity but not at all sweet tyle of Sauvignon with a certain mineral quality. I can't think of any other Sauvignon Blanc that tastes like this - so much the better! Winemaker Xavier Bizot (of the Bollinger champagne family) outlines the complex winemaking regime on the back label. It was fermented and aged in oak but you don't pick up any oak flavour. Firm finish with some real bite. I imagine this is not a wine to drink straight off the bottling line. Perhaps Sancerre is the closest to this admirable variant on the Sauvignon Blanc theme that is to popular in the southern hemisphere.

Score: 16.5
When to drink: 2013 to 2015

I recommend you try it - Jancis on our 2012 Pinot Gris Late Harvest

Author:

Jancis Robinson

Source:

jancisrobinson.com

Review Date:

Thu, 02/05/2013

Hoopers Vineyard, picked on 13 Mar, 5% of botrytised grapes. Six months in old oak. Bottled in Oct 2012. RS 58 g/l. Really quite sweet! Not that concentrated and a little bitter on the finish. One of those medium sweet, light bodied wines that are a bit difficult to match with food. There are probably three dishes that would be ideal but I'm not sure which they are. Just about to try it with a Chinese takeaway. Actually it went pretty well with that sweetness and spice! I recommend you try it.

Score: 15.5
Drink: 2013 - 2015

long and lucious - 2012 Sauvignon Blanc - 95 points

Author:

James Halliday

Source:

Wine Companion Magazine

Review Date:

Tue, 07/05/2013

Bright straw-green; continuing Terre à Terre's tradition of exceptionally complex sauvignon blanc in a white Bordeaux mould; fermented in six 600-litre French oak casks plus 14 old barriques, and matured in those vessels for seven months, with three months of lees stirring. Literally coats the mouth, but is not phenolic, just long and luscious.

95 points