A toast to AUSTRALIAN SPARKLING

No longer a lesser drop reserved for “sham friends”, Australia’s finest bubbles are rising to the top, writes SAMANTHA PAYNE.

- SAMANTHA PAYNE

They may be "New World" but Australia's sparkling wines are steeped in more tradition than they get credit for. Long before Clover Hill and House of Arras started in the late '80s and early '90s, all the way back in 1827, ex-convict Bartholomew Broughton was the first to sell an Australian. "imitation of Champagne", having planted Tasmania's first commercial vineyard four years earlier. This is according to new research by Andrew Caillard MW, who shines a light on Australia's long history with bubbly wine in his upcoming tome, The Australian Ark.

While we often look towards Tasmania as the benchmark for premium sparkling wine in Australia, there was one producer leading the way on the mainland, in Victoria's Macedon Ranges. Founded by John and Ann Ellis in 1982, Hanging Rock winery set out to make cool-climate, traditional method, pinot noir and chardonnay sparkling wine at a time when everyone else was swept up in "shiraz fever". To this day, it continues crafting wines in a "solera method" which uses base wine that's almost 40 years old in its non-vintage blends.

In Australia, the phrase "cool-climate" is the golden ticket for premium sparkling. That's because the finesse of chardonnay and pinot. noir grapes comes alive in cooler temperatures. Think regions such as Yarra Valley in Victoria, Orange and Canberra District in New South Wales, and Adelaide Hills in South Australia. Fruit ripeness is always something winemakers must contend with but the combination of cooler regions with extended ageing in the cellar is the winning recipe for sparkling styles that are not only delicious but find global acclaim.