Muse Brut Rose, 2004, Moorilla

I love pink bubbles.  Being also a fan of sparkly dresses, sometimes I think there is much fun in being a cliche when it involves good frocks and tasty sparkling!  There is still something of a stigma attached to sparkling rose and if people have only ever tried the horror that is Jacob's Creek Moscato Rose I can completely understand why they think it is hen-night lady-fuel.

Krug Rose or Taittinger Comtes de Champagnes rose couldn't be further from L-plated veils and perma-tanned strippers gyrating to Sex Bomb but if your budget doesn't quite stretch to that then there are plenty of great options in between.

The Muse Brut Rose 2004 is older and I'm tempted to say slightly more interesting than the Brut 06. A complex nose of redcurrant jelly, honey, figs, raspberries and baked strawberries intrigued me and the palate delivered. A very creamy mousse with plenty of refreshing acidity, hibiscus and soft red fruits and a long length.

A delicious and refreshing rose with complex maturity and I think teamed with a glamorous dress the awesome Bruny Island 'Otto', the one wrapped in ham, a few hours could be quite cheerfully wasted away.

Muse Brut 2006, Moorilla

There are so many jokes about Craig Mclachlan that I shall leave them unsaid and let the meme transfer the song into your head all on its own! 

Ex-Neighbours stars aside, if you haven't made the journey to Mona I would highly recommend it, some really confronting art and awesome food can be found on the same site as a very swanky Cellar Door for Moorilla wines.

With fruit sourced from the Tamar Valley the 2006 is as stylish as its surroundings. Pale lemon-green with a fine persistence in the glass the nose is clean and crisp with fresh lemons, biscuits, green apple and a hint of crab apple coming through. This is one crisp and refreshing glass of bubbles with plenty of clean acidity, a really creamy mousse and a long finish. The zingy green apple and lemon combine beautifully with honey, yeast and a complex biscuitty finish in a classy glass of bubbles. 

The Muse vintage Brut is definitely one to enjoy with some tapas from the bar before you head off to view the naked folk, light bulbs and coolest shower around.

Salute Sparkling, Spring Vale, 2008

Produced by Rod and Lyn Lyne out on the east coast of Tassie in Freycinet, the Spring Vale "Salute" sparkling is a blend of 87% Chardonnay, 9% Pinot Noir and 4% Pinot Meunier. Freycinet isn't always at the top of people's minds when one thinks of Tasmanian sparkling wine but it is worth remembering that Spring Vale are in the same neighbourhood as Claudio Radenti who makes some very smart bubbles indeed.

A delicate, pale, lemon-green wine with small fast moving bubbles the Salute is very fresh on the nose with green apple, lemons, white blossoms and biscuits finding their way through. The palate is yeasty and relatively intense with flavours of nectarines, apples, lemons, peach and biscuit. Salute spends 27  months on its lees before release and I would be interested to see how this wine develops as the bottle that I had showed something of a short finish to what was quite the pleasant glass of bubbles, one to re-visit in the future I think.

Pommery, 1981

So Christmas eh? T'was most definitely the season to be merry this year as there has been a cheerful amount of good bubbles knocking around, not least the Pommery 1981 we enjoyed on Christmas morning. A tricky vintage with a reduction in harvest size due to frosts in  the Spring, the 1981's are definitely ready to show us how they have turned out.

I am very much of the opinion that 30 is a lovely age and the Pommery did not disprove my theory. When Pommery is young I find it a little hard going, not quite at the 'a face only a mother could love' stage, more gangly youth, all knees, elbows and funny hair.

Age, however, does wonderful things and the Pommery has emerged from slightly awkward teenage years to be a stylish and slick adult. The maturity is obvious from the start with a rich golden hue which had far more sprightly bubbles than anticipated. The nose had an intensely rich, mushroomy scent with candied peel and some oxidised flavours coming through.

Rich and truffley on the palate, the Pommery was toasty, concentrated and vary satisfying. Intense baked apple, candied peel, brioche and a refreshing tang this was a classy little Champagne which really shows how well Pommery delivers the goods when tucked away to grow up a little.

Tamar Ridge, Vintage Cuvee, 2006

Unless you have been asleep, or merely fixated on the gold dress, it is impossible to skim over my weakness for Tassie bubbles. It has brought me to the other side of the world and although the 100 Aussie sparkling wines  has a pretty strong Tassie bias, this is one that isn't on the initial list.   

This omission isn't for any other reason than there was already way over 100 on the initial list and it needed slimming down a little. 2006 has provided some very smart wines from Tasmania and the Tamar Ridge vintage Cuvee is no exception, it is a cracker of a wine.

Medium lemon with a fine persistence, the nose is yeasty and autolytic with an almost oxidised approach combined with honey, brioche, apple and apricot. On the palate the mousse is rich and creamy which sets off a sparkling that is elegant but firm and flavoursome. Baked apples and stone fruits give way to leave the wine with a combination of citrus, honey and biscuits at the end. 


It will be interesting to watch this one develop as it is still very much developing rather than being fully mature but it is already an absolute belter. One to get a case of and pull out a bottle every now and then just to see how it is doing.

No:49 Bay of Fires Pinot Noir Chardonnay 2003

Tasmania produces some great sparkling wine all over the state but there is definitely a corner of sparkling wine dreams that is inhabited by Jansz, Delamere, Kreglinger and the glorious Bay of Fires.

Everything from the Bay of Fires sparkling range is great drinking and the 2003 is no exception. Inviting from the get-go, the 2003 is sprightly in the glass the small, fast moving, bubbles settling to some fine beading on the rim.

On the nose the maturity is obvious and complex, rich and toasty flavours, stone fruits, baked apple, biscuits and a very pleasant autolytic aroma. These all follow through on the palate to show what a cracking sparkling wine this is. A perfect balance of development married with fresh acidity, a creamy mousse and rich and complex flavours, this is a really stylish glass of bubbles. 

My 100 Australian sparkling wines to try is a little heavy on the Tasmanian sparklers but when they are like this, who am I to argue?

No:96 Knappstein Sparkling Shiraz

There are certain things that are very Australian; Vegemite, freakish animals and sparkling red wine. A little while ago I asked the Twitterverse if Australian sparkling red was pointless filth or Australian speciality and the answer was a healthy enthusiasm for red bubbles.

I have a few sparkling reds to try on my 100 Australian Sparkling wines and this is the first one I have reviewed so far. Apparently it's big over the festive season so I'm bang on the money reviewing it now!

Deep ruby with small fast moving bubbles and lots of fine beading on the rim the nose had as intense and spicy a nose as a still Shiraz. Dark chocolate, coffee, blackberry, pepper, star anise and black cherry all combining in a complex aroma. On the palate it is off-dry but with a refreshing acidity and the dark cherry, chocolate and spice flavours found on the nose all follow through with a hint of eucalyptus and star anise. 

Produced with fruit grown in the Chainsaw Vineyard of the Clare Valley the grapes are hand picked and after two weeks fermentation on skins the wine is transferred into oak barrels for ageing.  Not a traditional method but this has been made with some love and it shows. For my first foray into sparkling Shiraz, I'm kinda liking this, it's like hot Christmas. Weird but not necessarily wrong.

The Rhona, NV, Graham Beck

Returning to the UK and no longer being a Majestic staff member meant that I ended up buying wines from other establishments.This is fine when one knows the area and can find the decent little wine merchants but is as depressing as country music if one doesn't.


After the epic sparkling lunch, my next old friend to visit was in Oxshott, only a hop and  a skip on the train from Wimbledon so I swung by M&S to see what was worth my holiday money. Luckily Marks and Spencer's seems to have stopped spending all their money on Take That adverts (money well spent by the way, superb eye-candy!) and have either paid their buyers a bit more or got them out and about a bit more to try some new wines.


 I was very happy with the selection, bubbles from England, Spain, Italy, South Africa and France all winking cheekily at me like enthusiastic speed daters.

Being in the UK for such a short time I picked the one that would be hardest to find in Tas-vegas. Wise choice. A cracker of a sparkler from Graham Beck's sparkling winemaker Pieter Ferreira, The Rhona is a Methode Cap Classique full of soft, plumptious, red fruits with a hint of something a little more serious and savoury rounding off the palate.


A fairly even split of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir sourced from Robertson, Franschoek and Stellenbosch, whole bunch pressed with some time on lees to bring a rich, yeasty characteristic through this is a smash hit. If I was still in the UK I'd have a comfortable amount of this to see me through the party season and beyond. In fact, friend I went to see knows someone on the inside and she's done just that. Hopefully there will be some left when I head back in May....

Cuvee TJ NV, Szigeti

Sometimes it's important to do things just because you want to. I have huge respect for Peter Szigeti for two reasons. Firstly because he sparkles whatever he wants to. Secondly he isn't a mad man with a soda stream more a man with a passion for traditional method sparkling wine using the varietals around him.

Being of Austro-Hungarian descent the family have vineyards in both countries and produce Gruner Veltliner, Welschriesling, Zwiegelt and many more sparkling wines from their winery an hour south of Vienna. Their Hungarian wine cellar is one of the oldest in the country at 650 years.

A blend of 55% Furmint, 25% Harslevelu and 15% Yellow muscat it is a beautiful gold colour and the nose is the enticing mix of spice and dried fruit that one would hope it offered. Honey, marmalade, orange peel, sultana and spiced apricots all pop up. The palate is dry and fresh with lemon and apple bringing a crisp,  citrussy zing to the party. The finish is spicy, nutty and very pleasant.

This was the final wine to our epic sparkling lunch and all agreed it was a cracking end to the day. This isn't the easiest wine to get hold of but if you are in Vienna it would be criminal not to pop down to Neusiedl am See and see Peter or if you're only in Vienna briefly then a trip to one of their sparkling wine bars is an absolute must. Szigeti info

Bollinger R.D 1995

1995 was the year I was legally allowed to buy alcohol. I say legally as if you've ever met me, I've looked like this since I was 14 so my love of bubbles and access to it may have started slightly earlier than it should have done.

Paintings in the attic aside, when it comes to Bollinger I do ever so slightly turn into an awkward teenage girl gibbering in front of Take That.  I'm constantly impressed with the wines of Bollinger and the RD 1995 was no exception.

Disgorged a dogs age ago, the bottle was kept by a friend of mine for a 'big occasion' weddings, birth of child, that kind of thing and as that hasn't occurred just yet then 'friend returning from Australia' would just have to do.

Aside from being a stonker of a year, the R.D 95 spends at least eight years on its lees before being disgorged which gives it a real freshness on release. This bottle was disgorged quite a while ago so there was a real maturity to the champagne with nutty, earthy, mushroomy characteristics coming through.

The fruit was rich and intense with baked apple, stone fruit, honey and nuts and a clean acidity which complimented the mature flavours. The RD was definitely 'at peak, drink now' and it was a real treat to enjoy the wine at its peak instead of tasting its potential.

Another hit for Bollinger and just to balance out the universe I retained my teenage girl idiocy that evening when I ran into a very handsome friend of mine  and being a little tired and emotional by then promptly turned into a gibbering teenager again. Sorry Reg, blame the Bollinger, one day I'll be as classically elegant as my favourite beverage.

No:54 Arras Grand Vintage 2003

Just over a year ago I started the 'Living The Dream' phase of my life and moved to Tasmania. For those of you that have never visited Tas-vegas....Tanzania is the place in Africa, no it isn't that cold and the bubbles are the best non-Champagne sparkling wines on the planet.

When faced with the long journey back to the UK, the biggest question is always which wine to take with me. Most of my friends aren't massively amused that I've moved away to the actual other side of the world so I was planning on appeasing them with quality beverages on my return.

The choice of bubbles was a nightmare, I'm surrounded by awesome fizz everywhere I turn. In the end I decided to go for a classic, Arras Grand Vintage 2003 made by sparkling wine maestro Ed Carr. Produced from fruit sourced from the Derwent, Huon and Glenora Valley the wine is Chardonnay dominated with a very specific 38.7% being Pinot Noir.

Arras did me proud. Golden and vibrant in the glass with a lively bubble and very creamy mousse. On the nose the richness came through with candied fruits and a yeasty characteristics which followed through to the palate where it was met with a surprisingly youthful palate. The acidity is still pretty lively, the palate almost tight and very well constructed with the mushroomy notes of development mingling comfortably with honey and baked apple. 

We started off our epic sparkling-a-thon with this wine which was perfect for a reunion and the bringing together of my new home and the place where I grew up but presented me with another problem. What the hell should I take back next time?

For the full list of 100 Australian Sparkling wines to try click here

Les Sarments d'Ay, Moet et Chandon

One of my favourite things about being in the wine industry is that I know I will never get to the end of the story. There will be wines I haven't drunk, places I haven't visited and things I will never learn but the upside of that is being able to retain my sense of childish glee. There will always be new discoveries and mysteries to unravel, which is never a bad thing.

On my whirlwind trip back to the UK my new discovery was a bottle that my champagne guru Pete brought to lunch. He wasn't too sure about it's heritage beyond it being a special that Moet et Chandon made but apparently it had been sat around and he felt it was about time it got drunk.

After abandoning the Moet website in a fit of frustration, I stumbled across some actual information from the always interesting Andrew Jefford, which managed to provide me with a few crumbs of knowledge. Les Sarments d'Ay was part of a release of three Grand Cru wines from Moet in 2001, each designed to show the expression of their grape variety and region. Les Vignes de Saran is made from Chardonnay grown in Chouilly and  Les Champs de Romont is made from Pinot Meunier in Sillery.

Pete is my champagne guru for a reason. Les Sarments d'Ay was a real unexpected treat and it has managed to capture the elements of its variety and location. The produce of several vintages this champagne is the epitome of fine balance; the fruit, richness and acidity sitting in harmony.

Stone fruits, baked apple and bready notes combine with hints of creaminess and the maturity of the wine is evident in a slight mushroomy characteristic but there is still a youthful vibrancy to the wine.

Justerini & Brooks are in possession of some of this wine so if you haven't organised something for Christmas morning then this would be a blinder with a breakfast of scrambled eggs, freshly baked bread and Christmas ham.