on Australian Sparkling
Clos Pierre Pinot Noir 2008
We had a report on its former yearling the 2005 Pinot Noir a few months ago: we called it an entry Pinot Noir that was hard to beat.
Clos Pierre Pinot Noir 2008
To tell you the truth: the 2008 yearling is exactly that: a great wine with wine making expertise in the fifth generation from a great vineyard in Victoria. With 13.2% we are talking about a Pinot Noir that holds back where necessary and still allows to enjoy a serious drop.
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Ein prima Pinot Noir aus Victoria ist der 2008 Clos Pierre des französischen Weinmakers Pierre Naigeon – der Wein überzeugt durch seine fruchtigen Aromas, seine Kirsch und Pflaumenaromen und seine ausgewogene Länge bedingt durch diverse Monate in Eichenfässern.
Lassen Sie diesen Wein eine Stunde lang offen stehen und geniessen Sie ihn zu Ente oder einem asiatischen Fondue.
Happy 09/09/09 to all newly married couples
This is an important date as we have thousands of couples saying YES to each other today. Downunder Wines wishes them all the best – time to celebrate.
Cheers to al the newly weds
Einen herzlichen Glueckwunsch allen frisch Verheirateten in aller Welt wuenscht Ihr Downunder Wines Team.
Methode Traditionelle from the Southern Highlands
Australia’s top sparkling wines are very close to the french champagnes. In a former post we recommended Tasmania’s sparklings, the innovative ‘methode tasmanoise‘ was all present at Sydney Airport too.
Cool Climate Methode Traditionelle
Twenty years ago, some brands in Germany started with the ‘methode traditionelle’ or ‘methode champagnoise’ and did everything the way the French do with their champagne, only not using the grapes form the champagne region (hence not calling the end product champagne). It worked well, even in the country which loves German Sekt from German drink giants such as Henkell or Rotkaeppchen.
One of our current favourite sparklings here Down Under comes from Cuttaway Hill. These guys entered the sparkling arena only last year and what an entry this was: their top sparkling is named Laurence Chardonnay Pinot Noir and won the gold medal in Murrumbateman and a couple of silvers in its first year. Impressive.
The Laurence range of sparkling wines from Cuttaway Hill wines are named in honour of the founder of Cuttaway Hill, Laurence O’Neil. A premium single vineyard blend from hand harvested grapes followed by a slow cool primary fermentation only for the base wine was the base for this sparkling. The end product is then made in a traditional single bottle fermentation method and aged on lees for a minimum of two years before disgorgement and release. Low yields and dry ripening conditions produced full flavoured wines for Laurence.
We like this combination of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir – both excellent grapes that grow well in cool climate conditions here in the Southern Highlands. And Laurence is an excellent example of well made sparklings Down Under.
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Unsere Serie ueber australische Sparklings wird heute fortgesetzt mit einem pitzelnden Wein der Marke ‘methode traditionelle’. Jene Bezeichnung wird nicht mehr lange auf australischen Flaschen stehen duerfen, denn im Einigungsvertrag zwischen der EU und Australien hat sich Letzteres dazu verpflichtet, jenen franzoesischen Ausdruck nicht mehr auf australischen Flaschen zu verwenden.
Hier in der cool climate Gegend Southern Highlands werden erstklassige Chardonnay und Pinot Noir Trauben angepflanzt. Jene sind Grundlage fuer den Laurence Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir, ein erster Wurf der Cuttaway Hill Winery und ein aeusserst erfolgreicher dazu: der sparkling sahnt bereits in seinem ersten Jahr eine Goldmedaille nach der anderen ab – ein koestlicher Tropfen, der Lust auf weitere sparklings hier aus Down Under macht.
Ihr Michael Brecht
Our new series on Australia’s sparkling wines
The financial crisis made even the wealthiest wine drinkers realise, that there is more to sparkling wine than just Champagne. We’ve been following a few wineries here in Australia working on their own Sparkling wine in the past months to meet increasing market demand.
A Magnum of Dom Perignon Champagne
The production of sparkling wine itself is quite an interesting process and the results are sometimes rewarding, sometimes it has to be realised that the French did quite well to secure the term ‘Champagne’ for themselves. It takes quite a long time and experience to be listed in the top restaurants, brands such as Dom Perignon are unique and have a close following around the globe.
Follow our new series on Australian Sparkling from this week onwards: how to make a new sparkling, what grapes work best, bottle fermented or methode champagnoise, why can’t we just name it Champagne – and so on.
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Seit einigen Monaten begleiten wir eine kleine Anzahl an Winzern, die ihr Weinsortiment um einen eigenen australischen Sparkling erweitern werden. Wir haben dabei eine Menge gelernt und werden in den kommenden Wochen darueber in unserer neuen Serie ‘Australian Sparkling’ berichten.
Ihr Michael Brecht
