Grand Cru (Perth) Tasting Group – Sparkling Wines (not Champagne)

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

This month’s tasting looked at sparkling wines – not Champagne, but anything else sparkling from anywhere in the world (including France, but not Champagne), any grape varieties, any style. We got a few different ones in this tasting.

As usual, the wines were tasted blind. In this case, we tasted non-vintage whites first (with a couple of NV Rose’s thrown in) – then vintage whites and finally sparkling reds.

The usual disclaimer – the tasting notes are a compilation of the group conversations, and not just my own notes.

The NV whites:

Deakin Estate Azahara NV (Chardonnay Pinot Noir): Pale yellow in colour with a modest bead. Mayer lemon and lemon blossoms on the nose alongside red apples. There’s a little toastiness and brine on the palate, with musk and lychee. A clean finish but a simple wine. The group member who provided the wine admitted it was thrown into the mix “to see if we could tell shit bubbles from decent bubbles”. A basic and inoffensive sparkler.

Arras NV (Tasmania). Pale yellow in colour. Not a lot of fruit on the nose – what was there was red apple – and the wine shows autolysis and buttermilk. There’s a little more red apple fruit on the palate, but the overall impressions were that this was a straightforward sparkling with little to differentiate it, and with pronounced acid dominating. I personally am disappointed – a previous bottle was like battery acid – and this has done nothing to dispel that impression.

Delamere NV (Tasmania): Very pale in colour (one taster described the colour as ‘platinum’) and with the most persistent bead, almost effervescent. A touch of sweetness on the nose, with green apple pie, (the baking aromas were there too), lemon and lime, and one taster saw straw or hay. This was fuller on the fruit than the previous wines, with apple juice (and cider) and some salinity. It also had a longer finish than the previous wines.

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Lantieri ‘Cuvee Brut’ Franciacorta NV (Lombardia Italy) : Pale yellow with a persistent bead. 80% chardonnay, 10% pinot nero, 10% pinot blanco -a typical Franciacorta blend. Lemon and strawberry on the nose, offset by some autolysis and some salinity. This continued through the palate, with the addition of some peach and some dough / brioche notes. This had a bit more palate weight and length than the previous wines, and was well regarded by the group.

Marchesi Antinori Franciacorta (Lombardia Italy): 78 % chardonnay, 12% pinot nero, 10% pinot blanco. 36 months on lees. Medium yellow colour. A full and relatively rich nose, with brioche, lemon and green apples. There’s lots more apples on the nose, with lemon and what one taster described as Vegemite toast. High acid. This could be mistaken for a blanc de blanc Champagne.

Then the NV roses:

Howard Park Jete Rose` NV (Mount Barker, Western Australia). This pinot based sparkling wine is pale pink in colour. There’s strawberry, cherry, red apple and yeast autolysis on the nose. There’s more strawberry and apple on the palate, which also reminded me of mineral water. Medium acid. Well regarded by the group and possibly good with food, like a duck pate.

Sieur D’Arques Cremant De Limoux Grande Cuvee 1531 Rose` NV (France, but not Champagne!). Full pink in colour. The nose showed Turkish delight, musk and lychee, while the palate was cordial-like, with strawberry and red toffee apple. No hint of autolysis.

We then moved onto vintage whites:

Talisman Sparkling Riesling 2023 (Ferguson Valley, Western Australia). Pale straw in colour with a coarse bead. The nose showed lemon, lime, nectarine, passionfruit with a faint hint on kero -we suspected Riesling straightaway. The palate is complex, with some fruit sweetness offset by high acid. There’s quince, citrus and a little musk. Medium length.

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Brash Higgins Crystal 2022 (McLaren Vale, South Australia). Crystal is the grape variety, not the brand name. It’s made in a Pet Nat style, and unfiltered, so cloudy with sediment. The nose is cider-like, with stewed apple, tinned peaches, bergamot and cloves. The palate is also cider-like, with cloves, orange rind, and minerality, especially towards the finish. One taster noted forest floor.

Villa Conchi Cava Riserva 2018 (Spain). Medium yellow with a substantial mousse. There’s lemon, lanolin, green apple, fennel and candied apricot on the nose, with a hint of Vaseline. The fruit sweetness persists, with quince and gooseberry on the palate.

Cape Bernier Sparkling Cuvee Brut 2016 (Tasmania, Australia). A chardonnay pinot noir blend. Yellow in colour with gold flashes. Lots of yeast autolysis / brioche with ripe pink peaches. It’s mouth filling, with more peach, cherry, caramel and cooked lemon. Long finish and well regarded by the group.

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Finally, we tasted three sparkling reds (not roses) – all shiraz:

House of Noir Black Is Black NV (McLaren Vale). Black plums, Cherry Ripe, sweet spices and cloves on the nose. The Cherry Ripe was also noted on the palate, which retained considerable fruit sweetness, and a Christmas pudding character. Medium length and the group felt this was made to drink young.

House of Noir Black Is Black 2021 (McLaren Vale). A jubey nose with lifted fruits, herbs, menthol and vanilla essence on the nose. The palate has cherry cola and is slightly confectioned. There’s soft acid and menthol. Medium length and moderately complex compared to the previous wine.

Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz 2010: The nose showed leather, baking spices and white pepper alongside plummy fruit. The palate is all Christmas cake with soft acid, chalky drying tannins and considerable length. Fuller bodied when compared to the previous two wines. Highly rated by the group, despite general opinion suggesting it might have been better 2 years ago.


The wine of the night was the Seppelt Original Sparkling Shiraz 2010, with the Cape Bernier Sparkling Brut Cuvee 2016 a close second. It’s interesting that the two oldest wines scored highly.

A post-tasting discussion posed the question “why buy anything other than Champagne”? I have some sympathy for this position, as the price of some sparkling wines continues to rise, without the wine necessarily hitting the same heights. There are some styles that work best in certain situations (an ice-cold Franciacorta is a pretty good ’first glass’ of an evening) and some that are just interesting for other reasons. For many people, the reason for buying sparkling wines instead of Champagne is cost – some sparklies are considerably cheaper, and it becomes a perceived value for money equation. However, I will continue my long-held tradition of always having a bottle of Champagne on hand in the fridge.

Many thanks to those who were present and contributed to these tasting notes.

Cheers
Allan

[Waiters Friend]

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[Waiters Friend]

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[Ian S]

Trento Brut, from north-eastern Italy worth trying as an alternative to Franciacorta, and not being so close to Milano, IMO leads to it being better value.

At bargain basement level, I'm not a fan of Champagne, feeling various French cremants and also Vouvray Brut can offer more interest and depth. However it's a fair challenge that too many wineries outside the region charge low-mid Champagne prices, for wines that simply aren't interesting.

[mychurch]

There are lots of great sparklers out there, but it’s the price that is always the issue.

There has been a bit of debate on WineFront about the Arras pricing - the A was always a good buy from Dans at $22 , but not so at $35 especially considering the review above. I can see why people want to support it - along with Chandon it’s probably the biggest name in everyday local fizz - but at a recent tasting (blind) Dans cheapest Champers was the group favourite and I much prefer the options from Aldi to any Auz equivalents