Award and Accolades

☆☆☆☆½ - Tony Love & Mike Gribble, The Advertiser
"Well regarded now as a top class Adelaide Hills sparkling house, this has taken in more chardonnay to the cuvee this year and it shows with delightful white nectarine and lemon zest flavour dominance, some nougat like complexity with textual minerals teasing the palate. More-ish and salivating. Delicious."

Past Vintages

2012

TROPHY - Best Australian Sparkling, Sydney International Wine Show 2015
TOP 100 BLUE GOLD - Sydney International Wine Show 2015
BRONZE - Australian Sparkling Wine Show 2014

94 Points - James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion
"70/30% pinot noir and chardonnay made by the traditional method, spending at least two years on tirage, it has multiple layers of strawberry, nectarine and apple aromas and flavours, the balance and length very good. Yet further time on lees (and on cork) will be rewarded."

94 Points - Tim White, Australian Financial Review, May 2015
"Green apple, just-ripe blackberry: like a baked apple filled with currants and dried spices. Has sniff of edginess too: icy, wet rocks. Plenty of pear and peel in the mouth, and zest, chew, and pips. Mouth-aromas of pâtissiere’s pastry, and a lingering mouthwatering finish."

92 points - Huon Hooke, Hooked on Wine November 2014
"This 70/30 pinot chardonnay is a very pleasing drink, clean and dry with a long finish. It’s colour is medium brassy yellow, its bouquet nutty, creamy, nougat and meringue-like, with some lees-age complexity. Rich, deep flavour; cleansing lemony acidity. Now to four years.."

From the Winery

We source fruit from sites located above 550m in the Lenswood district of the Adelaide Hills. These sites consistently produce outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for sparkling wine.

Different parcels of fruit are all hand-picked and whole bunch pressed separately into tank for settling. Fermentation of these small batches lasts around 12 days and in 2013 only some parcels of wine were put through malo-lactic ferment to soften the acidity and add complexity. Others retained the full acidity to add tension and structure in the final blend.

Blending of the base wines is carried out in early spring before we tirage (bottle) the wine. The bottles are then stored at 14°, which is just right for a long consistent second ferment. After a minimum of 24 months ageing on lees, each bottle is riddled and disgorged on site in our Longwood winery.

Small batches are disgorged at a time to allow the remaining bottles to continue developing complexity on lees as long as possible. The dosage liquor added at disgorging is crafted using a blend of base wines and is then aged for a minimum of 12 months.