Winemaker Notes
From time to time, the blessing of virtually perfect climatic conditions can produce an exceptional vintage. The first of these was in 1999, when abundant winter and spring rainfall was followed by a warm, mild, yet sunny, ripening season. The fruit from this vintage was so outstanding, a small number of chardonnay parcels from the Clover Hill Vineyard were reserved to create the Cuvée Exceptionnelle Blanc de Blancs.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Piercingly focused, with fresh-grated ginger, sea salt, lanolin and white chocolate-covered graham cracker notes on a sleek, juicy frame. Features lemon zest details and an amazingly long finish.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Directly south of the city of Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula wine region, the cool-climate island of Tasmania has earned an honorable reputation as the country’s finest producer of Sparkling Wine. Naturally the region also excels in top quality still wines from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling, all distinguished because of a high natural acidity. Most of the Tasmania vineyards cluster around the eastern side of the island from north to south.