Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesA methode traditionnelle, offering strawberry and berry biscuit, as well as a gently nutty edge. Bright berries on the palate. Nicely balanced, smooth and fresh. Drink now.
Pale gold in color, this energetic bubbly from Tasmania’s Tamar Valley bursts with notes of bruised apple and honeysuckle, backed by baked bread characters. Vigorous bubbles on the palate prickle over the top of the fruit and elevated acidity. It lacks some textural weight to balance all that refreshment, and the finish is on the short side, but overall this is a classy, affordable traditional method sparkler from the Aussie state most famed for the style. Little Peacock Imports.
A blend of 53% Chardonnay, 42% Pinot Noir and 5% Pinot Meunier, Clover Hill's NV Tasmanian Cuvee Methode Traditionnelle spends a couple of years on the lees, so there's an attractive, toasty nuance to the aromas, plus hints of roasted nuts, ripe apples and lemon zest. It's medium-bodied on the palate, almost creamy in texture, then finishes with focused citrus flavors and ample length.
Clover Hill is one of Australia’s principal Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier Cuvées. Founded by the Goelet family on the site of a former dairy farm in north-east Tasmania, Clover Hill was established in 1986 after an exhaustive search for an ideal site for the sole purpose of producing world-class sparkling wine to rival that of the Champagne region. The site, with its rich soil, natural sloping amphitheatre and maritime climate, was deemed to be the perfect location to produce superb Méthode Traditionnelle sparkling wine, rivaling the great Champagne Houses of France.
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.
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.