Chapel Down Brut Vintage Reserve

Kent, the garden of England. The best thing to do in a garden on a hot day is to crack open a bottle of bubbles and see where the conversation takes you and with a bottle of Chapel Down Brut on the go you can be sure of happy free-wheeling chat that will put the world to rights.

I have enjoyed many a bottle of Chapel Down Brut over the years and when i nipped back to England late last year I picked up a bottle to taste with friends back home in Tassie. To have two such different English bubbles in our first tasting group was a treat and the response to the Chapel Down was actually more accordant than the Nyetimber. In the most affectionate way, this is a great session sparkler.

Lemon in colour with many small, fast moving bubbles the nose presents an unusual blend of blackcurrant, rose, violet, rosehip and apple. The palate continues with many flavours that are unexpected in a white sparkling with red fruits such as redcurrants and strawberries adding to the mix of flavours found on the nose. 

With a crisp and refreshing acidity these red and floral flavours really work to create a flavoursome and very drinkable wine. Best enjoyed young the Chapel Down Brut really hits the spot and I look forward to popping the cork on a bottle one sunny day when I'm back in the UK.

Nyetimber Classic Blend 1995

Back in the 90's I first tasted English sparkling wine at a bistro I was working at. We had a visiting winemaker from Australia over and my boss pulled out a bottle of bubbles to have at the end of the winemakers dinner once the customers had left.

None of us knew what it was and we were all remarking on its tasty goodness when we were told it was English and it was produced by Nyetimber. I am a bit hazy on the details of vintage and the like but that first taste of Nyetimber piqued an interest that has not faded away over the years.

Thanks to Ricky at Bay of Fires who worked a harvest in the UK last year, one of the wines in our inaugural tasting meet-up was a Nyetimber 1995.

A deep golden wine with small but not overly effervescent bubbles. A rich and heady nose full of caramelised walnuts, baked apple, honey, sweet spice and candied orange peel led through to an equally flavoursome palate.

Dry with refreshing acidity with some real weight and intensity. Orange peel, brioche, nuts, candied peel, honey, nutmeg, baked apple and a hint of vanilla and mushrooms all combine with a very creamy mousse and a delightful long length. 

There was a mixed reaction from the group; for some the intensity of the flavours and the savoury earthiness were too much but there were several of us that loved its rich and concentrated complexity. All in all a good result for England on Australian soil. First the cricket, now the wine.....

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.