Champagne / Sparkling Wine
Champagne by definition is a French sparkling wine that has been harvested on a territory geographically pre-determined in 1927 and that is based on a range of grapes that have also been defined back then.
During processing, especially in the phase of bottle fermentation, champagne is produced through carbon dioxide (conversion of sugar into alcohol), whereby a distinction is traditionally made between two processing methods: traditional method or champenoise method.
The range includes cuvees (a combination of different grape varieties and /or year of origin, so called non-vintage champagnes) and the use of vines from the same year, so called vintage champagnes.
The three classic grape varieties needed for a champagne are, in the order of their typical volume proportions: Pinot Noir (for the body), Pinot Meunier (for the fruit) and Chardonnay (for the finesse), with the two red grape varieties (almost exclusively) being processed without skin and therefore fermenting as a white wine. Exceptions here are the increasingly popular rosé champagnes, which naturally use the red vines in their entirety.
Champagne made from pure Chardonnay is called Blanc de Blanc, while Champagne made from only red grapes is called Blanc de Noirs.
Champagne is seen worldwide as an expression of indulgence and lifestyle, with the result that around 400 million bottles are produced each year. Some 2/3 of these, however, are non-vintage cuvees from the big champagne houses (Moet & Chandon, Veuve Cliquot, Piper-Heidseick, Tattinger, etc.), which are offered year after year with nearly identical style, regardless of environmental influences and other vintage fluctuations.
Smaller wineries are therefore more likely to incorporate the special features of individual vintages in their products. Such a development can of course not only be seen in France: this is also the case in Germany with its many small, highly ambitious sparkling wine cellars and is also valid for Australia.
The high-end Australian sparkling wines come from family-run wineries (such as Clover Hill Wines, Apogee, Delamare or Deviation Road) created in recent years and which are not only superior to the Australian volume market leaders (Jansz, Seppelt, House of Arras) in terms of quality and richness, but are also produced in a sustainable way on their typically small territories. It’s just a shame that as a logical consequence, the total yield is usually 5,000 or even less bottles per year and wine (!); not to mention single vineyards like e.g. Apogee Rosé Deluxe or special forms of winemaking such as Clover Hill Blanc de Blancs.
Noteably these small-scale high-quality sparkling wine producers, who were traditionally located in the state of Victoria, are now increasingly settling in Tasmania, with exceptions to the rule like Deviation Road who are still in the Adelaide Hills (Victoria). The significance of Tasmania in this context is pretty obvious: Formerly known as “apple isle”, it is now only called “sparkling isle”.
Much of this, of course, goes back to the pioneers Josef Cromy, the family Goelet (CloverHill), but also Fran Austin and Shane Holloway (Delamare) and above all Andrew Pirie. Andrew Pirie in particular, as the “Godfather of Sparkling” and founder of the brands Pipers Brook, Pirie Tasmania, Tamar Ridge and most recently Apogee, has always fought for this status. And that very successfully, as underlined by countless awards for Andrew and his sparkling wines, including one of the Top 3 Prestige Sparklings in Australia with 96 points according to Tyson Stelzer for the Sparkling Rosé Apogee Deluxe Vintage Rosé 2016 (what makes it presumambly the best vintage rosé in Australia outside the reserva vintages, see Australian Sparkling Report 2020).
So we are very pleased to offer you here exclusively such excellent sparkling crafters like Apogee and Clover Hill in Pipers Brook/ Tasmania including their flagship Vintage Sparkling Wines (developed as Apogee Deluxe Rosé or Clover Hill Cuvee Exceptionelle Blanc de Blanc).
Champagne by definition is a French sparkling wine that has been harvested on a territory geographically pre-determined in 1927 and that is based on a range of grapes that have also been defined back then.
During processing, especially in the phase of bottle fermentation, champagne is produced through carbon dioxide (conversion of sugar into alcohol), whereby a distinction is traditionally made between two processing methods: traditional method or champenoise method.
The range includes cuvees (a combination of different grape varieties and /or year of origin, so called non-vintage champagnes) and the use of vines from the same year, so called vintage champagnes.
The three classic grape varieties needed for a champagne are, in the order of their typical volume proportions: Pinot Noir (for the body), Pinot Meunier (for the fruit) and Chardonnay (for the finesse), with the two red grape varieties (almost exclusively) being processed without skin and therefore fermenting as a white wine. Exceptions here are the increasingly popular rosé champagnes, which naturally use the red vines in their entirety.
Champagne made from pure Chardonnay is called Blanc de Blanc, while Champagne made from only red grapes is called Blanc de Noirs.
Champagne is seen worldwide as an expression of indulgence and lifestyle, with the result that around 400 million bottles are produced each year. Some 2/3 of these, however, are non-vintage cuvees from the big champagne houses (Moet & Chandon, Veuve Cliquot, Piper-Heidseick, Tattinger, etc.), which are offered year after year with nearly identical style, regardless of environmental influences and other vintage fluctuations.
Smaller wineries are therefore more likely to incorporate the special features of individual vintages in their products. Such a development can of course not only be seen in France: this is also the case in Germany with its many small, highly ambitious sparkling wine cellars and is also valid for Australia.
The high-end Australian sparkling wines come from family-run wineries (such as Clover Hill Wines, Apogee, Delamare or Deviation Road) created in recent years and which are not only superior to the Australian volume market leaders (Jansz, Seppelt, House of Arras) in terms of quality and richness, but are also produced in a sustainable way on their typically small territories. It’s just a shame that as a logical consequence, the total yield is usually 5,000 or even less bottles per year and wine (!); not to mention single vineyards like e.g. Apogee Rosé Deluxe or special forms of winemaking such as Clover Hill Blanc de Blancs.
Noteably these small-scale high-quality sparkling wine producers, who were traditionally located in the state of Victoria, are now increasingly settling in Tasmania, with exceptions to the rule like Deviation Road who are still in the Adelaide Hills (Victoria). The significance of Tasmania in this context is pretty obvious: Formerly known as “apple isle”, it is now only called “sparkling isle”.
Much of this, of course, goes back to the pioneers Josef Cromy, the family Goelet (CloverHill), but also Fran Austin and Shane Holloway (Delamare) and above all Andrew Pirie. Andrew Pirie in particular, as the “Godfather of Sparkling” and founder of the brands Pipers Brook, Pirie Tasmania, Tamar Ridge and most recently Apogee, has always fought for this status. And that very successfully, as underlined by countless awards for Andrew and his sparkling wines, including one of the Top 3 Prestige Sparklings in Australia with 96 points according to Tyson Stelzer for the Sparkling Rosé Apogee Deluxe Vintage Rosé 2016 (what makes it presumambly the best vintage rosé in Australia outside the reserva vintages, see Australian Sparkling Report 2020).
So we are very pleased to offer you here exclusively such excellent sparkling crafters like Apogee and Clover Hill in Pipers Brook/ Tasmania including their flagship Vintage Sparkling Wines (developed as Apogee Deluxe Rosé or Clover Hill Cuvee Exceptionelle Blanc de Blanc).
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Clover Hill Cuvee Exceptionelle Vintage 2013
75,00 €Includes 19% MwSt. 19 % DE0,75 l Bottle (100,00 € / 1,0 l)plus shippingAdd to cart -
Apogee Deluxe Vintage Rosé2016
99,00 €Includes 19% MwSt. 19 % DE0,75 l Bottle (132,00 € / 1,0 l)plus shippingAdd to cart