The Auswine Forum

I have grown to love my big reds but still don't have a great fondness for traditional sparkling (white) wine. To be fair I've never really tried anything terrific.
I'm keen to venture into the sparkling shiraz territory but I don't want the experiment to tarnish my opinion of the whole sparkling red variety should I pick a dud.
Any recommendations? Expect to be paying between $20 and $30 per bottle approx.
Thanks in advance.

Seppelt
https://www.seppelt.com.au/our-wines/sp ... ing-shiraz

Majella
http://www.majellawines.com.au/our-wine ... ing-shiraz

Seppelt is a bit more earthier I find, whereas the Majella is a bit more fruit forward, and bigger.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14490&p=123164&hilit=primo+joseph#p123164

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I'm not much of a sparkling shiraz fan, but I quite enjoyed the Langmeil Sparkling Shiraz...

deejay81 wrote:I'm not much of a sparkling shiraz fan, but I quite enjoyed the Langmeil Sparkling Shiraz...

You sound like my Dad. Said he wasn't a fan of sparkling red until i reminded him of the Primo Joseph he drank with me.
"ah yes....that was great" he says

Had a 2012 disgorged Rockford Sparkling shiraz. The first few bottles I had of this were really good. This one was beautiful on the nose, but very one dimensional and disappointing once we tasted it.

Scotty vino wrote:

deejay81 wrote:I'm not much of a sparkling shiraz fan, but I quite enjoyed the Langmeil Sparkling Shiraz...

You sound like my Dad. Said he wasn't a fan of sparkling red until i reminded him of the Primo Joseph he drank with me.
"ah yes....that was great" he says

Primo Joseph is awesome. Right up there with Seppelt Show Sparkling and Castagna Genesis as my all time favourites.

Redwine&Rum wrote:Had a 2012 disgorged Rockford Sparkling shiraz. The first few bottles I had of this were really good. This one was beautiful on the nose, but very one dimensional and disappointing once we tasted it.

Had the same issue with my bottles. The problem I found after some research is that (like most rockford reds) they need time. I laid my remaining
5 bottles down and will visit them again in a few years.


Back OT

My favourites:

Primo Joseph
Braydun Hill Crimson Silk
Rockford
Majella (when the dosage isnt too sweet)
Hollick Sparkling Merlot (only in good vintages)

A good quaffer is the Bleasdale.

I want to try the Teusner, Bests, Seppelt Show Reserve & the Leasingham Calssic Clare
and now its getting a bit warmer... I should probably go an buys some soon.

Would have been great to try the Barossa Valley Estate E & E when it was around!

Where are people getting Primo Joseph and Rockford Sparkling for $20-$30??

dave vino wrote:Where are people getting Primo Joseph and Rockford Sparkling for $20-$30??

These aren't in the price bracket bigtinnie wanted. Wish they were!

Some great suggestions - thanks.
I'm a fan of Majella generally so I'll give that one a go along with the Seppelt. Didn't know Tuesner made one - I'll be sure to try that and I've read good things about the Bleasdale.
Looking forward to the weekend! Been invited to a Christmas/cocktail party type thing where the host is putting on upmarket type finger food (if there's such a thing). The sparkling red will be a nice change to my usual cab or shiraz.

Make sure you stick it in the fridge for a bit. I find they are always nicer with a bit of chill in them.

dave vino wrote:Make sure you stick it in the fridge for a bit. I find they are always nicer with a bit of chill in them.

Oh ok. I had assumed that they were meant to be chilled (like sparkling white I guess). Are you saying not to have it in the fridge all day? Just an hour or two?

Sparkling red usually requires a bit of a learning curve and for me that took place when I tasted them at cellar doors on an early trip to Australia. For me the best examples were the savoury and aged examples. Seppelt's Original of course we all know of, but I also liked Lehmann's Black Queen and Garden Gully from Great Western. Haven't had much since then since there is a very poor selection here in Canada.

Personally, I would chill my sparkling red the same way I would any other sparkling. A light chill would only result in the wine soon reaching room temperature and I sense that it would detract from the appeal.

Mahmoud.

bigtinnie wrote:

dave vino wrote:Make sure you stick it in the fridge for a bit. I find they are always nicer with a bit of chill in them.

Oh ok. I had assumed that they were meant to be chilled (like sparkling white I guess). Are you saying not to have it in the fridge all day? Just an hour or two?

It depends....hour or two, if a big group so everyone is only getting one/two glasses - pour, and put back in fridge for second round.

Smaller group with 3-4 glasses (bearing in mind you'll probably have flutes? so they don't hold much (although I prefer them in a white wine glass) then maybe an extra hour in the fridge and back in after each pour.

You want it chilled but not Pepsi-like cold otherwise the acid becomes a lot more prominent and you lose some of the softness.

Rossco wrote:Had the same issue with my bottles. The problem I found after some research is that (like most rockford reds) they need time. I laid my remaining
5 bottles down and will visit them again in a few years.

Agree totally ... however this goes against what Rockford tell it's customers ... that it is meant to be drunk relatively young. Hence all the complaints about leaking corks as I think most buyers what a few years bottle age on them. Go figure ...!

Bigtinnie
If u want a good sparkling Shiraz at an affordable price it's hard to go by the Tahbilk Couselant range. For about $23 a bottle they're good value. I think the Rockford is a better wine at nearly 3 times the price but u can't quaff them like u can the Tahbilk.

Sh*t

Bugg*r

Bum

********its insisting I leave characters

WTF? - how do u remove a bunch of posts?

Luke, the only way I know how is to go into the duplicate posts by hitting the "Edit" button and then delete the contents. Some leave it it blank, others write "dupe", while people like me go "oops!"

In your case there are three oops! Try it before some wine guy says "You can say that again!"

Mahmoud.

At that price point, I rather like the Balnaves Sparkling Cabernet. The Bees Knees from Rymil isn't bad either. The Bests isn't a bad option and I'd look at some of the Rutherglen shiraz/durif sparkling

I often buy Seppelts Original and Best's. I was up at Bress recently and got one of theirs for xmas lunch.

I didn't think I would like sparkling Shiraz but having tried the Primo last year I have bought some more for Christmas break this year. Have bought a few Rockford and Seppelt Show which are laying down. Some good Intel here, might pick up a few at the cheaper end and give them a nudge over Chrissy too.

Thanks for so many suggestions everyone. I'll try a few and supply some feedback. Where to start though...............

bigtinnie wrote:Thanks for so many suggestions everyone. I'll try a few and supply some feedback. Where to start though...............

Why, at the beginning of course!

Cheers

Michael

In your price range Rumball do a pretty good version (and a Merlot as well) and second the Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz 2012

Brand spanking new Sparkling Cabernet;

http://www.saddlerscreek.com/cellar2u/i ... cts_id=414

Luke W wrote:Bigtinnie
If u want a good sparkling Shiraz at an affordable price it's hard to go by the Tahbilk Couselant range. For about $23 a bottle they're good value. I think the Rockford is a better wine at nearly 3 times the price but u can't quaff them like u can the Tahbilk.

+1 for the Tahbilk Sparkling shiraz, however it needs 1 - 2 years age after you buy it.

Apparently Turkey Flat make a sparkling Shiraz.... now that is one i would love to try!