The Drink For Celebration

Champagne has long been the celebratory drink for all occasions. To be called Champagne, it must be produced in the Champagne region and, to a large extent, winemakers use predominantly Pinot Noir (black) grapes mixed with Chablis (Chardonnay). Here is a selection some of our favourite bubbles for the festive season, including one of our favourite champagnes, a local Cuvée and some quite unique local sparkling wines using entirely different grapes.

Grant Burge Pinot Noir Chardonnay NV

The history of the Burge family and their long association with winemaking in the Barossa Valley can be traced back to March 1855 when John Burge arrived in the region from Wiltshire England.  In 1988, 5th Generation family winemaker, Grant Burge, established Grant Burge Wines with his wife Helen. Today Grant Burge Wines has a reputation as one of Barossa’s leading wineries and produces a range of varietals including high quality sparkling wine made in the tradition of Champagne. With the combination of the best terroirs, the best climate and the best winemaking techniques, the natural result is the best wine.

Using Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes from the elevated and cool climate regions of the Adelaide Hills and Eden Valley, this Grant Burge sparkling wine is sophisticated and elegant. Ripe peach, strawberry and citrus notes are combined with nutty, biscuity nuances. The mouthfeel is creamy and textured. Delightful on its own or with smoked salmon and caviar.

Peter Yealands Sparkling Pinot Gris Blush

Peter Yealand is a pioneer in sustainable winemaking. Establishing their Seaview vineyard a little over a decade ago, their aim was to create one of the most sustainable vineyards in the world. Inspired by Yealand’s love of nature, their quest to achieve the status of the most sustainable winery has achieved multiple international awards. From their use of discards from the local mussel producers, to their extensive use of solar energy, Peter Yealands is dedicated to crafting award-winning wines in harmony with nature.

This sparkling blush delivers delicate pear aromas typical of Pinot Gris with lifted raspberry characters, and a delightfully crisp finish. Enjoy with smoked eel and horseradish sauce.

Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvée NV

You’ll notice that Bollinger doesn’t refer to the non-vintage range as non-vintage. At the suggestion of their British agents at Mentzendorff in 1911, they started calling this range Special Cuvée (‘special’ written the English way, without an accent) since at least half of the wine used is cask fermented. More than 100 years later, the name of Bollinger’s key figure champagne still symbolises both its expertise and its history.

Blended from 60 percent Pinot Noir, 25 percent Chardonnay and 15 percent Meunier from a majority of reserve wines, part of which have been aged in magnums for 5-15 years to produce a golden colour, distinctive of black grape varieties, these are very fine bubbles. Special Cuvée is perfect shared among friends, for a simple and meaningful moment. It was our choice as premier sponsor of the M2 Man of the Year – what better way to toast success – the champagne we give to the people we love and who love nice things.

Pair with any fish, especially sushi and sashimi; seafood – shrimp, prawn, crayfish, grilled lobster; poultry and white meat; parmesan; or good cured ham.

Nautilus Cuvée Marlborough BRUT NV

As with French champagnes, this outstanding cuvée is made from 70 percent Pinot Noir and 30 percent Chardonnay grapes grown in the Marlborough region from three separate vineyard sites, The sites are managed to produce fruit for Nautilus Cuvée Marlborough BRUT NV, giving them a range of flavour influences.

Pale straw in colour with a fine bead and creamy mousse, the wine has a distinctive nutty bouquet, which shows the richness of a Pinot Noir-dominant blend and the benefits of extended maturation. This is an elegant finely structured wine in which the fruit flavours harmonise with biscuity, yeast-derived complexities and crisp acidity to give a lingering dry finish.

Try with delicious fresh oysters or parmesan wafers.

Baby Doll Pinot Gris Sparkling Blush

Baby Doll is a tiny breed of sheep that barely reach your knees in height. The delightful name is a tribute to just how differently they do things at Yealands Family Wines. Being one of the most sustainable wineries in the country, the sheep were brought in by founder and owner Peter Yealand to maintain the vineyard and keep the weeds down between the vines – being so short they can’t reach the vines makes them the perfect little miniature lawnmowers – using no fossil fuel and they fertilise as they go – something certainly worth bleating about.

Aromas of ripe pears and strawberries come though on the nose with a satisfying long, crisp finish. The perfect accompaniment to a nice sushi and sashimi.

Champagne Bollinger La Grande Année 2007

Tasting a bottle of the La Grande Année will produce an exceptional experience for any wine connoisseur, but this particular vintage excels above most.

Harvesting at Bollinger for the 2007 vintage was one of the earliest of record, similar only to to the harvests of 2003,1947 and 1893, so this is an exceptionally rare vintage. Made from 70 percent Pinot Noir grapes and 30 percent Chardonnay solely from the Grands and Premier Crus (translation: The best growing areas), this is Bollinger’s interpretation of this exceptional year.

La Grande Année is Bollinger’s prestige blend, produced only when the harvest reaches perfect balance. It was Maison Bollinger that created the Charter of Ethics and Quality for champagne, thereby making it very clear that there are champagnes and then there is Bollinger. “There is no limit to quality,” according to Christian Bizot, nephew of Madame Lily Bollinger.

Tasting a bottle of the La Grande Année will produce an exceptional experience for any wine connoisseur, but this particular vintage excels above most – certainly most that you could get your hands on today.

“I drink champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty,” Madame Lily Bollinger, head of the House of Bollinger until 1971, famously said.