Aussie Sparklings
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Happy New Year!
It may have been a quiet, homebound affair, but at least it happened: 20-bloody-20 finally came to an end. Many of us - confined to quarters or restricted to just 5 guests - celebrated with unaccustomed restraint. As spectacular pyrotechnics cracked and crescendoed over the heads of... well, nobody as it turned out, we toasted the New Year in the heady ambience of our own loungerooms.
Sound dull? A little lonely? Not on your nelly. If ever there was a moment of feeling at one with the universe, it was at midnight, when we jubilantly popped our corks and thumbed our collective noses at 2020 - confidently placing our hopes, dreams - and all our eggs - in the basket of ‘21.
No pressure!
Midnight Confession
In the WineDown household, the number of revellers had swollen to three - courtesy a Christmas visitor unable to return home due to Covid clusters - and the party was going off! In the way that parties of three people – all of whom qualify for a seniors’ concession on the bus – do.
But in the midst of the excitement, WineDown realised a guilty secret - one that is perhaps shared by many Aussies: a habit that has crept up on us and is now ingrained. In spite of the riches at our fingertips, at times of great celebration (such as ushering out a universally loathed year) we habitually ignore our fabulous Aussie sparklings, reaching instead for Champagne.
That WineDown has so thoughtlessly (and on so many occasions) spurned our own high-achieving Sparkling-makers was both embarrassing and sobering. Fortunately, a remedial bottle of delicious Coldstream Hills Pinot Noir Chardonnay was close at hand, while WineDown pondered...
Resolutions Past
• Eat less red meat
• Consume fewer carbs
• Drink less booze
• Don’t indulge in mindless social diversions
WineDown’s New Year resos usually turn up their toes faster than you can say Australia Day Barbecue, but this year is going to be different.
Don’t give ALL the best occasions to Champagne!
It’s a great resolution because it’s not about doing less or going without. It’s just about doing something differently. And the reason it WILL stick is because the alternatives are so damned good. But it wasn’t always so...
Early Aussie Fizz
Ye Olde Aussie Sparklings were primarily made as reds. In the 1880s, the ‘Victorian Champagne Company’ pioneered its Sparkling ‘Burgundy’. Although a lightweight in comparison to today’s Sparkling Shiraz, this fizzy rosé style developed quite a following. When the Vic Champers Co bit the dust, Hans Irvine at Great Western took up the baton, before the style was spectacularly reinvented in the 1930s and 40s at Seppelt by the legendary Colin Preece.
It wasn’t really until the 1950s that sparkling whites became popular. Inspired by the sweet sparklings of Germany, these light, warm-climate, tutti frutti styles sold under exotic names like Barossa Pearl, Sparkling Rinegolde, Porphyry Pearl and Mardi Gras. Sophisticated Aussies of the fifties couldn’t get enough of them.
We Get Cool
In the 1980s, scouts from Moët & Chandon began sniffing around Australia in search of a location to create a fine Australian sparkling. They were looking for a cool climate region with excellent soils, and they found it in the beautiful Yarra Valley. The success of their Domaine Chandon inspired a generation of winemakers to seek out sites for making premium Sparkling. The higher and cooler, the better. They found them in King Valley, in Henty, in Adelaide Hills, Tumbarumba, Tasmania and parts of the Yarra Valley. These chilly regions (and those intrepid winemakers) are responsible for the elegant and textured, world-class styles that we enjoy today.
Clarification
Just to be clear: WineDown is NOT GIVING UP CHAMPAGNE. What a hideous thought. It’s simply a reallocation of celebration. Instead of habitually reaching for Champagne whenever there are fireworks in the sky; candles to be blown out; or achievements to be feted, WineDown will choose to toast with delicious, finely nuanced, prestige Australian fizz. Champagne is not off the menu – we simply have to find other occasions on which to enjoy it.
Well, will you look at that! The washing’s dry already. Pass the Krug, Karen!