Sparkling Wines

Sparkling Wine

THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE AN INTRODUCTION INTO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SPARKLING WINE. Here we will discover the origins of sparkling wine, the methods used to make it, and what constitutes as a sparkling wine. You will be introduced to brands you may not be so familiar with, as well as learn the history and production of old favourites. Find out about the variation of sparklings from across the globe, including Europe and many from Australia, as well as reading tasting notes - let these pages reignite your sparkle for sparkling! ❧

WORDS RACHEL STEVENSON

The World of Sparkling

TO BE BLUNT, SURELY ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THE HISTORICAL SUCCESS OF CHAMPAGNE IN AUSTRALIA WAS THE SAD FACT THAT OUR OWN SPARKLING WINE WAS, FOR SO LONG, SO VERY, VERY ORDINARY. IF YOU WANTED TO DRINK WELL, WHEN IT CAME TO SPARKLING IT WAS NECESSARY TO LOOK TO CHAMPAGNE. LEAVE ASIDE THAT LOVE-IT-OR-HATE-IT CURIOSITY, SPARKLING SHIRAZ (AND, FOR OUR PURPOSES, OTHER EXAMPLES OF SPARKLING REDS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE), AND WE MADE SPARKLING WINE FROM ILL-SUITED GRAPES (ONDENC AND TREBBIANO, ANYONE?), GROWN IN THE WRONG REGIONS AND MADE IN A SUB-STANDARD MANNER. FORTUNATELY FOR ALL, THINGS HAVE CHANGED. AND HOW!

WORDS KEN GARGETT

THERE IS NOW AN EXTREMELY persuasive argument to suggestion that, aside from Champagne itself, nowhere makes better sparkling wine than Tasmania – though numerous countries might put forward their own sparkling regions. These days, Champagne has to be good. If the crown should slip, there are numerous winegrowing districts which would be quick to step forward, keen to take over the mantle. Of course, the worldwide demand for sparkling wine these days, means that there is room for many styles and regions. This also allows prices to vary considerably – one does not expect to pay the same for a delicious and easy drinking Prosecco as for a prestige Champagne. Even within Australia, prices and styles now vary enormously.

Sparkling wine did not, of course, originally come from Australia. There are references to it, as far back as the Bible, though one suspects that might be more a case of reading into something that which one wants to hear.

Basically, sparkling wine is simply wine with a high enough level of carbon dioxide in it to create the necessary fizz. It can be made in the method prescribed for Champagne (though be careful calling it that as the Champenois are not adverse to litigation to protect their name), which is universally acknowledged as the preferred technique for quality sparkling; by the Charmat method, a cheaper and simpler mode of making sparkling wine in large stainless steel tanks rather than in the bottle; the transfer method, whereby there is a second fermentation in the bottle, though if one checks the fine print, not the same bottle – it will ferment in a bottle but then be transferred to tank for filtering and then returned to a second and different bottle; or even the injection of carbon dioxide into the wine, a method which is unlikely to ever produce wines of the highest quality.

Australia is far from the only country producing sparkling wines.

There are numerous examples in France, aside from Champagne. There are claims that the original sparkling wine of France was the Blanquette de Limoux (there are also claims that sparkling wine production in England predated that of Champagne) and not Champagne. There are a number of regions in France allowed to refer to their sparklings under the term ‘Crémant’ (a right gained by relinquishing any claims to the use of the term ‘méthode Champenoise’). They include Alsace, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Die, Jura, Savoie, Limoux and Loire. There is also one outside France allowed to use the term ‘Crémant’, namely Luxembourg. Most French regions, however, produce a sparkling of some style or other. In Australia, we rarely see them. Our own sparkling industry has reached heights, which exceed most of these alternative sparklers in purely qualitative standards. They are usually for local consumption or destined for the volume market in Europe, and the cost of importing these wines puts them beyond the pockets of those looking for value fizz.

The British Isles is quickly developing a reputation for quality sparkling. The producers, Nyetimber, Chapel Down and Ridgeview, are especially well known. Germany has a much longer, continuous history, making sparkling wine for around 230 years. Many of the famous names in Champagne actually have German origins – Krug, Bollinger, Heidsieck, Mumm, Lanson, Roederer and Taittinger, to mention a few. The German sparkling wine is known as ‘Sekt’, which is also a term also used for sparkling wines in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Italy has an extraordinary array of different sparklers – names like Prosecco, Asti, Franciacorta, the often-unfairly dismissed Spumante and more, will be familiar to wine lovers around the globe. In volume terms, Prosecco is shaping up as the largest selling sparkling wine on the planet. While these wines have often been demeaned by critics, today there are numerous producers of the finest quality. Names like Bellavista and Ca’ del Bosco are just two of many.

There are sparkling examples from almost every European country but one of the most famous is surely from Spain, which has its Cava, some of startling class. Codorníu, Freixenet and Segura Viudas are perhaps the best known, but there are many more.

South Africa has a thriving sparkling industry, with wines known as ‘Cap Classique’. Canada, South America and Mexico all have quality offerings. Even India is in on the act.

The United States has been making sparkling wines for over 180 years and has attracted some of Champagne’s famous names, who have established long running operations in California. These include Mumm Napa, Taittinger (in partnership with Kobrand at Domaine Carneros), Domaine Chandon (Moët et Chandon – though they struggled to reach the level of quality to which they aspired until they brought in an Australian winemaker), Piper Sonoma and Roederer Estate, while Spain has not missed out either – Gloria Ferrer was established by Cava giant, Freixenet. Famous local names include Korbel, Schramsberg Vineyards, Iron Horse and Domaine Ste Michelle in Washington.

New Zealand has joined the sparkling family, with both quality fizz in the more traditional style and the more innovative sparkling Sauvignon Blanc. Whether this latter innovation proves to be a genuine style or a way of using excess grapes remains to be seen. The region of Marlborough is, of course, best known for Sauvignon Blanc but it also does sparkling extremely well. The wines develop a lovely natural toastiness. The problem is that economically, it makes far more sense to plant and sell Sauvignon Blanc, which can be on the market just months after harvest, whereas sparkling wines may take years before they bring any form of return to the maker.

‘Pelorus’ by Cloudy Bay is probably the Kiwis’ most famous sparkler. Daniel le Brun, Lindauer, Deutz, Huia, Highfield and Quartz Reef are all well known and highly regarded producers, but, like Australia, a great many makers will offer a sparkling or two. Often these are made by contract winemakers, as the cost of establishing their own facilities for this style is so often prohibitive.

We think of the classic varieties used in Champagne when we think of the grapes best suited to sparkling wines, and they do feature in many regions, but there are many more. A quick census of the grapes listed in the ‘Christie’s World Encyclopedia’ reveals at least 120 white varieties used for sparkling, and half that number again of red grapes. The use of lesser grapes was just one of the reasons for the slow start to the Australian sparkling wine movement.

It might not have begun at the top of the quality tree at the time, but Australian sparkling wine has been with us since 1826 when a Mr Broughton, who had been shipped to Australia in 1819 as a convict sentenced to life for theft and embezzlement, managed to produce 200 gallons of wine, ‘in imitation of Champagne’, from his property in Tasmania. It was, by all accounts, of acceptable quality. James King planted vines at his Hunter Valley property in the same year, but it was not until 1843 that he made his first sparkling wine, from what was called Shepherd’s Riesling, better known to us as Semillon. It was the first sparkling wine made on the mainland. It was not long before King was winning gold medals at local shows for his efforts. King gained international fame when he, as the only Australian sparkling wine exhibitor at the 1855 Paris Exposition, won a medal with a wine which was described by the French judges as having the ‘bouquet, body and flavour - equal to the finest Champagnes’. The wine was subsequently served to Napoleon III at the final banquet.

Before long, famous names such as Seppelt, Yalumba, Auldana, Thomas Hardy and more, recognised for their table wines, were also making sparklings. In 1866, Joseph Best planted vines at his property at Great Western. Within a few years, he had won a gold medal for his sparkling wine in London. When he died intestate in 1887, the vineyard and cellars were purchased by Hans Irvine, a man keen on his sparklings. Soon after, Irvine met

Charles Pierlot of Champagne Pommery while on a visit to France and offered him a position back in Australia, as manager and winemaker at Great Western. Pierlot worked there, on and off, until 1912. In 1918, Irvine sold the business to Benno Seppelt. Seppelt’s Great Western is still a famous name in the pantheon of Australian sparkling wine today.

A year later, Edmond Mazure, a French chef who was managing Auldana, decided to set up his own winery and plant vineyards in order to make sparkling wine. He called it ‘La Perouse’. Years later, it would be purchased by Wynn’s and eventually become Seaview.

In 1932, Colin Preece, who was to become a legendary winemaker responsible for some of this country’s greatest wines, took over as manager of Great Western. He had been with Seppelt in the Barossa Valley.

It was many years before the industry turned around the reputation, of producing little more than poor to average wines for easy drinking, that had dogged it for so long. The transformation came about when winemakers like Brian Croser of Petaluma developed his eponymous sparkler, using Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. These days, almost all quality fizz in Australia comes from one or a combination of the three traditional “Champagne” varieties, though Pinot Meunier is very much in the minority. Croser was followed by producers such as Hardy’s, Seppelt’s, Seaview and Yalumba. Pioneers like Andrew Pirie and Ed Carr were also instrumental in the flight to quality. One early producer to focus solely on quality sparkling was Ian Home, who established Yellowglen, their first vintage being the 1975. Yellowglen could be seen as having ‘gone the other way’, to a degree, as it was purchased by Mildara Blass and redirected production to massive quantities of decent, well priced fizz.

We also saw interest from some of the Champagne Houses, in varying degrees. Domaine Chandon most famously set up in the Yarra Valley under the stewardship

OPPOSITE PAGE: Wineglass Bay, Tasmania

There is now an extremely persuasive argument to suggestion that, aside from Champagne itself, nowhere makes better sparkling wine than Tasmania

of Tony Jordan, one of the world’s first ‘flying winemakers’ and a former colleague of Brian Croser. Louis Roederer and Pol Roger looked to Tasmania. Devaux went into business with Yering Station/Yarrabank. Bollinger and Veuve Clicquot also dabbled.

Perhaps the most important factor in the improvement of sparkling wine in Australia was the search for the most suitable vineyards. It was the move to cool. Much good fruit came from the Yarra Valley – just try the wines of Domaine Chandon, Coldstream Hills and de Bortoli, but Macedon was even colder, as was the Whitfields Vineyard in the upper reaches of the King Valley. Brown Brothers was well known for their sparkling from Whitfields, but has shifted focus to Tasmania. Macedon has many sparkling producers, some doing excellent work with exciting wines, but they tend to be very small wineries, rarely seen outside the region. Hanging Rock is an exception. On the mainland, outside Victoria, the Adelaide Hills in South Australia provides quality fruit (we see that reflected in the sparkling wines of makers such as Croser, Daosa and Grant Burge), as does the Tumbarumba region in New South Wales.

It is, however, Tasmania which has sparkling producers most excited. We have seen the quality of local efforts from producers like Piper’s Brook/Kreglinger, Clover’s Hill, Jansz (the first operation here devoted solely to sparkling), Freycinet, Stefano Lubiana, Josef Chromy, Moorilla Estate and more. Perhaps more than anything, it is the almost singleminded focus that leading sparkling maker, Ed Carr of Arras (and Accolade), has shown in his support of Tasmania fruit and vineyards that has helped place the region on the map. I’ve no doubt other regions might dispute this but I have seen nothing to convince me that, outside of Champagne itself, there is a better district for the production of quality sparkling than Tasmania. The production is a fraction of that made in Champagne but they are definitely worth the search.

Sparkling wine in Australia is now dominated by the largest producers – Treasury Estates, Jacob’s Creek, Accolade and their ilk – but even here we see some very fine wine sitting alongside the mass-produced fizz necessary to maintain the level of profits shareholders demand. There are, however, many smaller producers from the second and third tiers of the local wine industry, in size rather than qualitative terms, doing exciting things.

Many of the smaller producers use contract makers, as they simply cannot afford to maintain the facilities needed to produce quality fizz, especially when there is little return for considerable periods. Producers like Stefano Lubiana, Hanging Rock from Macedon and Arras regularly offer wines which have seen ten years or even longer on lees – a very tough commercial proposition but one of which all lovers of great sparkling wine should take advantage.

One intriguing development in the Australian sparkling industry has been, following on from the success of screwcaps for table wines, the use of crown seals instead of the traditional corks to seal the wines.

Sparkling wine in Australia has made extraordinary leaps in recent decades. There is every reason to be extremely optimistic about its future. ❧