You have to hand it to French marketing, particularly when it comes to Champagne. It is a giant region; 34,000 hectares under vine, 9% of total global sparkling wine production, and 35% of value. It is a Goliath in every sense of the word. And yet, despite this, the crafty Champenoise manage to retain the integrity of the brand, as the undisputed pinnacle of quality sparkling wine. Genius, pure genius, and the world laps it up thanks to the sheer quality of the greatest wines and spruikers falling over themselves to maintain the status quo.
Yet, there is another story that is increasingly compelling, and that is the rise, and rise, of other regions around the world whose top wines are now seriously challenging all but the very best Champagnes, smashing it out of the park in terms of both style and quality, particularly in a changing climate. My VINOUS colleague Anne Krebiehl MW recently wrote a brilliant article on English sparkling wine which can be found here, tracking the growing excitement around that category. And the same is true for the very top end of Australian Sparkling wines where artisans are pushing the limits around what can be achieved. But this is no love letter to Tasmania, which does seem to hog the limelight. It is more a recognition that there are a number of Australian regions crafting exceptional sparkling wine that are true competitors to serious Champagne.
Of all the wine styles, the winemaking for top quality sparkling is probably the most complicated and technically demanding. There are multiple processes and settings which are key to quality wines, assuming the fruit is up to standard. All of this takes massive investment, particularly in vast stores of reserve wines that can be used to blend up a dependable non-vintage. Truly top drawer sparkling winemaking is not for the faint of heart, nor anyone without relatively deep pockets. Arguably Australia’s first big move into fine sparkling wine came with the development of Seppelt Salinger by Ian McKenzie almost forty years ago. And since that time, slowly, winemakers and viticulturists have been chipping away, honing fruit sources, grape growing and winemaking, making a thousand tiny steps to get us where we are at today.
No doubt, the cool Tasmanian climate was an early drawcard for sparkling winemakers, the partnership between Champagne Louis Roederer and Heemskerk, which launched Jansz in 1986, a sign of things to come. The move by the Hill-Smith family in 1997 to acquire the brand and vineyards would be the first of many mainland wineries looking to expand their sparkling wine production in cool climates. The House of Arras project, which launched in 1995, was a very brave step at the time, led by superstar winemaker Ed Carr, and was a massive gamble on the future of Australian sparkling wines. It was a moment that the industry needed, and illustrated a growing confidence in the local product while driving increasing expertise in all areas related to sparkling wine production. Carr’s role, backed by long-term investment by the owners of Arras, in the development of Tasmanian sparkling wine can not be overstated, with the knowledge gained at Arras helping many winemakers to improve wine quality. Renewed recent vigour at Arras, thanks to a change of ownership, should see this brand hit the heights it was originally designed to scale.
Alongside Arras, the most exciting change in Tasmanian sparkling wine has been a number of artisanal, sparkling wine obsessed winemakers, who are pouring their heart and soul into some fabulous, albeit boutique, wines. Andrew Pirie, one of Tasmania’s pioneering wineries, planted a two hectare vineyard north of Launceston for his wines bottled under the Apogee brand, the use of oxidative winemaking techniques adding delicious sophistication. Pirie is a big believer that this vineyard size is the maximum that can be perfectly managed with the diligence and detail required to make exceptional wine. The quality in the bottle suggests that he is right. Bellebonne by Natalie Feyer, former Chief Sparkling Winemaker for Yalumba, including Jansz, is another star of the Tasmanian wine scene, with a sideline in gin distillation. From a standing start in 2015, she has built an enviable reputation for wines that show wonderful finesse, subtlety, purity and balance. While vintage releases are the premium focus, the Bis non-vintage blanc and rosé are a superb introduction to the house style. At the very pointy end, trained plant physiologist Frieda Henskens and botanist David Rankin are taking artisanal wine production to extremes with their singular focus on small-production releases under the Henskens Rankin label, with only 1840 bottles of the current 2016 Vintage Brut. Intricacy, finesse and detail are hallmarks of their style, and wines with extended ageing potential.
Thankfully, the impact of Arras and Carr reaches far beyond Tasmania. While Western Australia’s Howard Park winery have been working on their Jeté sparkling range for over a decade, the addition of Nic Bowen as Chief Winemaker, who worked with Ed Carr for 12 years, is already producing impressive results. While Western Australia is generally not renowned for its sparkling wines, the icy climate in some parts of Great Southern appears to offer significant potential. The combination of close to 400 metres in altitude with the right mix of clones is genuinely promising and suggests that there is much to look forward to in sparkling wine from the west.
One fascinating part of the Australian sparkling wine story has been the fluctuating fortunes of Adelaide Hills. Prior to Tasmania hitting its straps, sparkling wines from the hills were revered, no doubt in part driven by the Croser brand. However, with the changing ownership of Croser and the rise of Tasmania, the Adelaide Hills has almost inexplicably lost its lustre in many markets. It is a crying shame as its cooler environs centred on the Piccadilly Valley have potential as good as anywhere else in the country to create extraordinary sparkling. Like in Tasmania it has taken expertise and investment to take advantage of that potential, in particular the combination of Xavier Bizot and Lucy Croser, no doubt assisted by industry veteran Brian Croser who was a vital cog in the early development of sparkling wines in the Adelaide Hills. Bizot brings the advantages of growing up a winemaking dynasty inextricably linked to Champagne Bollinger. With a working knowledge of Champagne’s many secrets combined with diligence in the winery and vineyard with impressive use of oak, the DAOSA Sparkling Wines show the path forward for the Adelaide Hills to reassert itself as a region deserving of global recognition. But across the board there is genuine momentum building behind top-end Australian sparkling wines from across the country which take the fight up to the best that France can dish out.
DAOSA Piccadilly Valley Blanc de Blancs 2020 | $90
94 Points 2028-2036
This incredibly stylish DAOSA 2020 Blanc de Blancs is so refined and teases with hints of almond, praline and finger lime showing excellent precision and focus. Velvety textured with fantastic acid drive as linear acidity drives a long, and fine finish. Subtlety is the key here which will build further in time.
